Project Konoha
by crimson sun06
Summary: They were trained to be soldiers & assassins. Their work is never done be it war or peace. They are the shadows of hell who ensure the peace of our heaven. But sometimes the lights of heaven cast darker shadows than the fires of hell.
1. A stranger in town

**A/N:- Well guys this is my first foray in the world of fanfiction. Its a modern day fic. Hope you enjoy it. Reviews appreciated.**

_Interpol case no. 4418 report:-_

_Date: 05 April 2008_

_The victim was found in dead in his office at 7 in the morning by one of the cleaning crew. Preliminary reports suggested that the murder took place between 1 and 3 AM November 16. Autopsy reports put the death around 2 AM. The cause of death was determined to be poisoning by hydrogen cyanide traces of which were found on his glass of scotch. The victim was John Sullivan 29 years of age and the son of senator William Sullivan. John Sullivan was a suspected pedophile and was under investigation for over 50 cases of child molestation. The last person to see him alive was the doorman to his office. According to his testimony John Sullivan entered his office around 12:30 AM. He was not alone and was in the company of a 10 year old boy. The witness Blake Rogers was unable to give a description of the boy except his height which he indicated to be around 5 feet. Even after 6 months of extensive investigation all leads have reached a dead end._

_So as of now death has been ruled due to suicide._

_Case Staus: closed_

**Chapter 1: A stranger in town**

September 2011, Tokyo

A sea of humanity exited the train as soon as the door retracted, while another sea jostled into the train. In this ocean of regulated chaos a boy made his way out onto the station. Unlike everyone else he didn't seem to be in a hurry. His gait was relaxed and his pace sedate.

His blue eyes and Caucasian skin tone indicated him not being a native. Tufts of dark blonde hair peeked out of his gray skull cap. Dressed in a green T-shirt under a gray turtle-neck, with faded blue jeans and black and white sneakers and an orange backpack he looked like a regular teenager.

However a closer look would reveal that his eyes held an alert look darting all over the place. Making his way out of the station he casually handed out his train ticket. The ticket collector didn't give him a second glance as he punched his ticket.

He had reached the city of Akiruno.

The place he was supposed to go to wasn't far from the train station and so he decided to walk. Half an hour later he was standing in front of a group of apartments which had definitely seen better days. The paint was peeling from the buildings and some even had blackened over time. A bunch of kids were playing in an equally rundown park. Taking a deep breath he made his way to what he deduced to be the room of the super. Knocking 3 times he stepped away from the door and began a backward count from 10. As he reached 3 the door opened to reveal a middle aged uncouth and unshaven man dressed in blue boxers and white vest opened the door partially latch still in place glaring at him.

"What?" The man exclaimed rudely.

"I am here about an apartment. Teuchi must have mentioned me."

"You Uzumaki?" the man barked but his glare softened a bit.

"You don't look Japanese." he snapped

The boy now identified as Uzumaki simply shrugged.

He closed the door on Naruto's face.

After a minute or so the door reopened this time the man appeared in a yellow t-shirt and gray pants. If he was surprised by the boy's youth he didn't show it.

"Follow me."

He led Naruto to an elevator and pressed for the 3rd floor while firing of a stream of instructions.

"Running hot water between 5 and 7 AM. So try and finish your...duties within this time frame. Your neighbors may get loud on occasions in which case you are on your own. I have better things to do than babysit you."

Keeping up his commentary he led him to an apartment numbered 306. Unlocking the door he led the boy into the room. The boy resisted the urge top sneeze as the super opened the curtains and aired the rooms.

The house consisted of a hall with a cooking platform, and a bedroom with an attached bathroom. Flicking on the switch of the bathroom he saw his reflection staring back at him from a dirty cracked mirror.

"...here are your keys and if you need anything else you know where to find me."

The boy nodded.

"See you around kid."

"Naruto."

"What?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. That is my name."

"Well in that case call me Kensei." the super said offering his hand. Naruto shook it once."Free advice Naruto. Don't get in trouble with 303 and you should do just fine."

Saying so he retreated out of the apartment leaving Naruto to his musings.

Naruto dropped his bag on the couch in the hall and walked out, he had another place he needed to be.

As he was locking his apartment a voice greeted him.

"Hey there neighbor."

Turning to the source of noise he saw an attractive dark haired young woman in her mid-twenties in khaki shorts a fishnet under a pale yellow jacket. Her arms folded under her chest accentuating her assets.

"Hello" Naruto greeted back.

Walking up to the boy she held out her hand. Naruto took her hand and held on to it just a fraction of a second longer than necessary.

"I am Mitarashi Anko."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"You don't look Japanese."

"I get that a lot."

"So what is a kid like you doing here alone."

The conversation was going into dangerous waters and the woman looked suspicious. Thankfully Naruto had his story covered.

"My guardian trusts me enough to live on my own."

"Mighty responsible of your guardian to leave a 10 year old to live on his own." Anko asked getting more suspicious.

Naruto was liking this woman less and less.

"I am fourteen." He said in a tone suggesting annoyance.

"So who is your guardian kid?" Anko continued not giving any indication she heard him.

"Teuchi Ichiraku"

"The one who owns the restaurant down the street?"

"The very same."

A smile broke on Anko's face.

"Well in that case welcome neighbor. Hope you settle in here fine."

"Thank you." Naruto muttered slightly bewildered at the woman. She seemed to turn from an interrogator to a friendly neighbor in the blink of an eye.

Waving at the blonde the woman unlocked her apartment (303) and walked in. Naruto decided then and there to follow on the advice of Kensei. Anko was someone to be wary of.

Deciding to forego the lift Naruto made his way down the stairs. Checking the address once more he made his way down a couple of blocks coming face to face with a sign proclaiming

ICHIRAKU'S

Pushing the door to the restaurant he walked in ringing the bell in the process.

A young woman in her early twenties with black hair and brown eyes approached him.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's. How may I help you?"

"I am looking for Teuchi san. Iruka sensei must have mentioned me. I am Uzumaki Naruto."

At this the girl's eyes narrowed for a bit before she smiled.

"Yes of course we have been expecting you. I am Ayame, his daughter."

She lead Naruto to the kitchen area of the restaurant where he saw a balding middle aged man bent over a pot stirring some concoction.

"Naruto is here Dad."

Hearing this the man looked up from the pot and approached Naruto wiping his hands on his apron before taking off his head cap.

"I am Teuchi. Iruka spoke about you. Why don't you join me for a bowl of miso ramen and we can talk."

Naruto nodded his assent he was hungry and the ramen smelled heavenly.

Leading him to a booth Teuchi faced Naruto while Ayame placed two bowls in front of them.

Teuchi stared at Naruto his gaze fixed. Naruto gazed back not unnerved by the man's scrutiny.

"Iruka said you were his student." He finally said breaking his chopsticks before digging in and Naruto followed his example.

"Yes I am...was." Naruto replied.

"What was he teaching you?"

"Psychology."

"A little young to be learning psychology aren't you?"

"He didn't seem to think so."

"Two weeks before his death he contacted me and asked me to be your guardian as a favor to him."

"Yes, he told me to look you up in case something happened to him."

"Was he expecting something to happen?"

"I don't know. But he knew I had no family and i guess he wanted to look out for me." Naruto replied.

"He was a brilliant man Iruka was. Even though he was an orphan his drive to succeed got him where he ended up. Though I never imagined his end to come this way." Teuchi reminisced

"He held you both in high regard." Naruto offered to the conversation before polishing off his bowl.

"So what do you plan on doing kid?"

"I was hoping to join a school." That's what Iruka would have wanted him to do. "and I would like to work for you."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes I am."

"Well in that case come here at 8 tomorrow... I will get you admitted in the local school and you can help out afterwards.

"That will be acceptable."

Naruto walked out of the establishment feeling light weighted in a long time. Little did he know of the burdens he would be bearing in the near future.

**well guys that's the first chapter done...tell me what you think**


	2. Life on the other side

_Interpol case no. 6290 report:- Classified_

_Date: 30 August 2009_

_The victim Mustafa Pasha was shot 3 times. The weapon has been identified as an AK-47. One of the bullets went through his left kidney, another went through the 12th rib exiting through the back after severing the 6th thoracic vertebra, the third and final bullet went through the left ventricle of his heart. All 3 were fatal and the victim died on the spot. The victim was in the process of giving a speech to his child troops and preliminary investigations suggest the assassin was one of his own soldiers. Mustafa Pasha was one of NATO's confidential ground allies. Assassination due to rivalry with the local warlords hasn't been ruled out. The perpetrator was never apprehended and has possibly escaped._

_Case status: Closed_

**Chapter 2: Life on the other side**

_A man in a white coat came approached him. He was lying on a cold metal table stripped naked. A white blinding light bulb over his head. The man was holding a recorder in his left hand and a scalpel in his right. He couldn't make out his face._

_"Subject 9 shows faster than normal reflexes."The man spoke into the recorder before using the scalpel to place a small cut in his right forearm the cut healed promptly, the pain didn't bother him. He was used to worse...way worse."Along with an extremely advanced healing factor. The subject shows the height development as expected of one his age, but an increased muscle mass and greater bone density along with increased tolerance to pain."_

_"The other subjects didn't survive the procedure. The reasons are unclear as to why Subject 9 not only survived but is actually thriving." The man switched off his recorder after detailing some of his other findings regarding him._

_The man approached him, his face close to his, touching his face in what could have almost been considered an affectionate gesture._

_"You are special subject 9. I expect great things from you." He said in a low whisper his breath caressing his ear._

Naruto opened his eyes. A quick survey confirmed that he was in his new apartment. A glance at his watch showed the time to be 2:30 AM, he considered going back to sleep, but eventually decided against it. The same dream again. He never had these before. He started dreaming 2 years ago and had only become more frequent in the last six months. Rubbing his eyes to chase away the residual sleep he flipped off the covers and made his way to the bathroom. Flicking on the lights he studied his reflection in the crystal blue eyes stared back at him, his hair still dark blonde though his natural color leaned towards a lighter shade. He stood at 5'3, a decent height for a boy his age. His pectorals and abdominal muscles were well developed indicating a healthy lifestyle.

__Finishing his morning ablutions he walked back into his bedroom. Slipping into his tracks and sneakers he went out of his apartment to go for a run. After an hour of running he had worked up a decent sweat but was still breathing comfortably. Making his way up a small hill he noticed the sun rising in the horizon. By the time he finished his regular exercise regime the sun was completely up. Another look at his watch indicating the time to be 6:30.

Good he thought plenty of time to meet Teuchi. He made his way back to his apartment and was in the process of unlocking his door, when a not so welcome voice greeted him.

"Well someone is an early riser."

"Good morning Anko."

Anko smirked."Morning brat. What got you out so early?"

Naruto just shrugged, not taking an offence to her calling him a brat.

"You are a riveting conversationalist you know that?" Anko said slightly exasperated.

At this Naruto almost cracked a smile... Almost.

"My teacher's did complain that I am a motor mouth."

"So you do have a sense of humor. Maybe there is hope for you yet. Anyway gotta go brat. Places to go people to see and all that." She trailed off making her way back into her apartment.

Naruto shook his head as he went into his own.

A shower and a breakfast of boiled eggs and toast later Naruto was ready for the day, hurriedly exiting his apartment before he ran into Anko again, he made his was to Teuchi's.

"Right on time." Teuchi said approvingly. "Your school starts at 9. Would you like some breakfast?"

"No thank you, I had my breakfast before getting here."

"Great so you can wait while I have mine." If Naruto was annoyed he didn't show it.

"Good morning Naruto san." Ayame's voice greeted him as she placed a breakfast of toast and juice for Teuchi.

Naruto returned the greeting politely before taking a seat.

His eyes gave Teuchi's apartment a once over. It was a simple two bedroom apartment, furnished simply but tastefully. The windows had purple curtains, which he guessed was Ayame's doing.

His eyes paused at a folded newspaper, his eye catching the headline.

**Hyuuga Hiashi elected member of House of Councillors.**

****Naruto picked up the newspaper and read the rest of the article.

_Hyuuga Hiashi ex-president of the Hyuuga Industries was elected as a member of the House of Councillors. He was fielded as a candidate of the New People's Party... _At this point Naruto's eyes strayed to the end of the article. _Hyuuga Hiashi has been a very vocal advocate of extensive militarization of the JSDF. In an interview he insisted that considering the current political climate of the world Japan can't afford to look weak and he has found supporters to his cause in his adopted party. When asked if it wasn't to further his company's interests, who are known weapon developers, he insisted that his company was there to serve the nation. He emphasized that there were troubled times ahead and Japan would need to be as ready as possible. It must be noted that Hyuuga Hiashi lost his daughter to what many political pundits had called "Blackmail to loosen his stance"._

__At this point Naruto stopped reading his fists clenching around the newspaper.

"Great man Hyuuga Hiashi. The country could use more leaders like him." Teuchi said buttering his toast when he noticed the article Naruto was reading. "Mind you I had my doubts about the man before, but even the death of his own daughter didn't shake him from his resolve. I can't imagine doing that if I was in his place. You okay kid?" He added when he saw the distress on Naruto's face, but the very next second he was sure he had imagined it because his face had retained its natural nonchalance.

"We should get going." Naruto said.

"Yes, of course." Teuchi said cramming the rest of toast into his mouth before getting up. "Have you got all your documents?"

Naruto nodded.

"Name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Parent's name?"

"Teuchi Ichiraku... He is my guardian."

"All the other details are in the documents I have already submitted."

"Well everything seems to be in order." The woman behind the counter said. "You can get your uniform and other supplies from the school stores and here is your class schedule. Your class is 3rd from the hallway. Welcome to Akiruno High."

As he walked out of the office he could see Teuchi in the hallway.

"Thank you for accompanying me Teuchi san. I will be fine from here on."

"Okay kid, see you after school." Teuchi said before walking out.

The school was a simple 3 floor structure, with classrooms lining the hallways on each floor. Following the directions of the school secretary Naruto made his way down the hallway pausing in front of the one proclaiming 8-C.

He tentatively knocked 3 times on the door before doing his countdown from 10. At 5 the door was opened by a tall bearded man in a white shirt and black pants. Naruto's observant eyes noticed that the man was a smoker judging by his slightly blackened lips and yellowing fingertips.

"Yes?" The man said staring down at him.

"Are you Asuma sensei?" Naruto asked at the same time handing him the slip of paper the school secretary had handed him.

Taking a look at the paper he nodded once at Naruto and allowed him in.

"Well class we have a new transfer student joining us today. So why don't you introduce yourself?"

Bowing once towards the class he said "I am Naruto Uzumaki and I hope to have a productive time here."

"You don't look Japanese." Shouted a boisterous looking boy from the back of the class.

Some of the students snickered at this but most looked at him with a look of vague interest.

"Okay that's enough." Shouted Asuma and the giggles ceased. "There is an empty seat next to Saburo, why don't you get settled in?" The boy Saburo raised his hand indicating where he was as Naruto made his way to the seat. On his way he saw a blonde haired blue eyed girl eyeing him with a curious gaze. Naruto dropped his bag at the floor near his seat as he turned to listen to his new teacher.

"Well class we will be covering grasslands for the next few classes and a pop quiz at the end of the week. Uzumaki san you have only missed a week so you shouldn't have too many problems catching up. I am sure your classmates will be happy to help." Naruto nodded.

It was lunch break. He had attended 4 classes since the morning. Geography taught by Asuma, Maths by a man named Yamato, Political science by a man named Yamada and History by a woman named Akiko. He had gym with Maito Gai, science with Meiling and art with Rei after the break.

His thoughts wandered to the newspaper article he had read in the morning as he waited in line in the cafetaria. The name Hyuuga dug up a lot of memories. In many was that name, or the girl who carried that name had been a catalyst to so many upheavals in his life. He may have argued with himself that it was Iruka but things had started changing a long time before that. Ever since..._her_. Taking his tray now filled with assorted nourishment he made his way to an empty

"Hello I am Ino." A voice broke into his thoughts. He mentally cursed himself for not minding his surroundings like he should have, allowing the girl to surprise him.

Looking up he saw the same blonde haired girl who was staring at him at Geography smiling at him plopped in front of him

Squashing his look of surprise he put a smile on his face and greeted her back holding out his hand, she was being friendly no reason not to be friendly back."Naruto Uzumaki." She took his had and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"So who is it?" She queried without a preamble.

"I am sorry?" Naruto said thoroughly confused.

"Mom or dad?" Ino persisted.

"I am afraid I don't follow you." Naruto said nonplussed.

"Your hair and eyes." She stated "I inherited mine from my dad. He is part Norwegian. He gets it from his mother. What about you?"

"Dunno I am an orphan." Naruto shrugged.

"Oh I am so sorry I didn't know." Ino exclaimed her hand flew to her mouth.

"Don't worry about it."

Ino was feeling extremely awkward now. But tried to make small talk anyway.

"So where are you living?"

"Li apartments."

"Well we are practically neighbors then." Ino said recovering somewhat. "So who are you living with."

"I am living alone."He said. "But my guardian lives barely two blocks away." Naruto added avoiding the follow-up question.

"I see. Well if you need any help with the school work don't hesitate to ask."

"I will keep that in mind."

"Ino what are you doing there?" Came a high-pitched voice 5 tables down.

"I am getting to know our new classmate. Come on over here forehead. Introduce yourself."

A pink haired girl with a somewhat large forehead made her way to Naruto's table and was immediately followed by another group of guys. All of them dressed in their regulation school uniform making Naruto stick out like a sore thumb. He was attracting a little too much attention. It went against everything he was taught and knew.

Everyone introduced themselves. A boisterous boy named Kiba, a silent boy Shino, an overweight boy who went by the name of Chouji and a lazy boy who went by the name of Shikamaru.

Naruto lost the thread of conversation even before it began and was thankful for the bell indicating the end of recess. If he knew what was waiting for him after recess he wouldn't have been so grateful.

"ALRIGHT MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS. TODAY I WILL BE INTRODUCING YOU THE YOUTHFUL SPORT OF BASKETBALL."

Suffice to say Naruto was thankful once he was out of gym class.

At the end of the day's class he went and collected the essentials from the school stores which included his uniform and books.

Once he was done he made his way out of the school campus and saw Ino waving enthusiastically at him, he returned the gesture with a wave of his own.

Ino was soon joined by the pink headed girl from class 8-B, Sakura was her name.

Taking a bus, the journey to his apartment didn't take more than 15 minutes.

Dropping his school supplies he went to Ichiraku's to begin his shift there.

"So how was your first day?" Teuchi asked him once his shift ended.

"It was okay." Naruto answered wiping his hands after having finished doing the dishes.

Teuchi studied the blonde in front of him. He was unlike any other 14 year old he knew. He didn't talk unless spoken to first and didn't seek out conversation . Even though he was polite and wasn't a slacker when it came to work he couldn't help but be a little uncomfortable around the boy.

"I will see you tomorrow Teuchi san."

"Naruto wait." Teuchi hailed him.

Tossing him a roll of cash he said."That's for this week."

Naruto pocketed the cash not bothering to count gave him a small smile and walked out bidding good night to Ayame on his way.

"Well he seems like a nice boy." Ayame said addressing her father.

"That he is." Teuchi said sighing heavily.

Naruto unlocked his apartment having avoided Anko in the hallway. A shower and a quick dinner consisting of rice and beans later he hit his books and started his homework. It was 10:30 by the time he finished. Not wanting to dwell on his thoughts regarding the events of the day he hit the bed, and was soon in a fitful sleep consisting of memories and nightmares...or was there even a difference between them now?

**A/N:- Well that's the second chapter done. Just building up the story for now. Things will get faster soon. Again would really appreciate some reviews. So tell me what you guys think.**


	3. Secrets

_Interpol case no. 6951 report:-_

_Date: 15 September 2008_

_The victim Hattori Hanzo was found dead in his apartment with his wind pipe slit. Preliminary investigations put the death between 4 and 5 PM of August 13. The weapon was a kitchen knife which seemed to have come from the victim's own kitchen. The place showed no signs of struggle and hence can be safely concluded that Mr. Hattori was caught off-guard. The victim was known to be associated with the Yakuza and it is suspected that he was a victim of gang rivalry. Though as of now the investigations have hit a brick wall._

**Chapter 3: Secrets **

It had been a week since Naruto had arrived in Akiruno and his first weekend and he was busy running orders for Ichiraku's at 1 in the afternoon.

"Miso ramen for table 5, red bean soup and yakitori for table 9 and chicken ramen for table 12." Naruto rattled off the orders to Teuchi simultaneously carrying the orders already prepared.

"Coming right up." Teuchi responded.

"Busy day huh?" Ayame said to Naruto carrying her own set of orders.

"Tell me about it" Naruto grumbled.

"Well get used to it Naruto kun, lunch times are bad during weekdays and even worse at weekends." Ayame couldn't help a smirk at the blonde's tone.

"Not exactly making me feel better."

"Go get the orders for table 8." Ayame told him patting his head.

Naruto grumbled some more and taking a pad and a pen approached the latest customer before freezing in his place.

"Thought I might find you here." Anko said smirking at his expression.

"It's you." Naruto said in a resigned tone.

"Now now what's with the tone? If I didn't know better I would have thought that you weren't happy to see me, it has been nearly a week since I saw my new neighbor." Anko said obviously enjoying the blonde's discomfort.

"Well probably you don't. Anyway welcome to Ichiraku's what can I do for you today?"

"Well how about 3 skewers of dango and some jasmine tea to go with it."

"Coming right up."

Relaying the order Naruto went to clear the empty tables. At some point during his shift he saw Ayame making small talk with Anko when she served her order.

She must be a regular here Naruto thought to himself. It was 2 and the end of his shift. The last days Naruto had fallen into a routine in his new life. School work kept him busy and when he wasn't busy with school he was working at Ichiraku's. He had made a few casual acquaintances at his school and could tolerate most of them. He even joined them for a game of basketball now and then. Slipping out of his apron and was on the verge of putting his shoes on when Teuchi approached him.

"Thanks for coming today. I know it wasn't your shift but was a little short-staffed since Yelan took the day off."

"It was no trouble Teuchi san." Naruto said waving his apologies aside. "I will see you tomorrow then."

"Are you sure you don't want some lunch? I can whip you up some ramen."

Naruto was tempted.

"Well if you make it miso."

"I don't see why not?" Teuchi acquiesced.

"In that case how can I refuse."

In the past week Naruto had developed a taste for ramen cooked by Teuchi and found it hard to refuse when he was offered some.

"So how was your week?"

"It was okay. We have a field trip next week." Naruto replied slurping the noodles.

"Where are you going?"

"I think its to the opening of the new museum. The Sengoku museum I think its called."

"Isn't the Governor inaugurating it?"

Naruto nodded. Apparently they need school children to make him look good. Naruto didn't voice his thoughts out loud though.

"Thanks for the meal Teuchi san. Goodbye Ayame san."

"See you later Naruto." Ayame said to the blonde.

Exiting the restaurant he was surprised to see Anko standing outside leaning on a Mitsubishi i.

"You do know how to make a girl wait kid, keep this up and you will never get yourself a girlfriend."

Naruto was bemused.

"Stalking a 14 year old I would be more worried about you getting into prison." Naruto replied back.

"I didn't know you cared kid."

Naruto rolled his eyes at that.

"What do you want Anko?"

"Just want to get to know my neighbor you know. I thought a kid like you would be making a productive use of his time."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this. "Like?"

"I dunno. Dating girls, hanging out with friends, that sort of thing?"

"Earning a living just ranks higher on my list of priorities."

"Well when you put i like that..."

"No, really Anko. What do you want?"

"Lets take a ride shall we?" She offered opening the door to her car. "I will even let you ride shotgun."

Naruto considered refusing, but decided otherwise, getting into the shotgun seat and put on the seat belt. Anko didn't bother with hers.

"So where are you from kid?" Anko asked him.

"Akiruno." Naruto replied.

Anko could have continued with her questions but she could see he had closed up and she wasn't about to get any honest answers from him at the moment suspicious as he was of her, when suddenly an idea struck her.

"I have known the Ichiraku's for years, since I was a kid, even baby-sat little Ayame a few times. Kind people they are."

"Yes, I know." Naruto agreed not sure where she was going with this.

"You remind me of another friend of mine who used to hang around Ichiraku's. Iruka was his name."

Naruto gave a start.

"He died recently and from what Ayame told me you knew Iruka."

Anko gave a sideways glance to Naruto.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

"Stop the car." Naruto demanded.

Anko stared at him for minute, his eyes blazing with anger and defiance.

"I am not your enemy kid." Anko sighed heavily. "I am only trying to find some answers."

Naruto's eyes softened a touch. Unlocking his door he lest her with his parting words.

"I don't have your answers Anko and I hope for your sake you will stop looking for them, nothing good can ever come off it."

Anko's ears burned with anger, getting out of her car she pursued him before holding him by the collar.

"I don't care. I need to know how he died and more importantly why?"

"His death was an accident." Naruto said unfazed by her outburst.

"What was Iruka to you?" Anko asked him not relaxing her hold on him.

"He was my teacher and I would really appreciate it if you would let go of me."

Anko realized she was still holding on to his collar and let go, looking slightly ashamed of herself.

"I am sorry." She apologized.

Shrugging off her arm Naruto walked away making his way into his apartment. Anko stared at his back. He was her last link to Iruka, a link she wasn't ready to lose yet.

Naruto shed his work clothes and made his way to the bathroom for a much needed shower with Anko on his mind. Iruka must have meant a lot to her if her reaction was anything top go by. A part of him felt sorry for not being able to help her... well it was for her own good. Secrets tend to kill people and he would be damned if his secrets took another life.

* * *

Basketball season was approaching. The team was busy practicing in the gymnasium and Naruto was busy painting the banner joined by another girl named Shiho. Behind the sidelines the cheerleaders were practicing their routine, Ino and Sakura had been the latest recruits and Shikamaru was reclining on the stands joined by Kiba who was eyeing the cheerleaders.

"You could actually help you know." Naruto said.

"Why would we want to do that?" Kiba snorted.

"Because you volunteered me for this along with yourself."

"I did it for the sights man." Kiba exclaimed eyes still on the cheerleaders. "And you and Shiho seem to be doing a fine job on your own. Wouldn't want to mess up your good work."

Shiho rolled her eyes at was still reclining his eyes shut. Earlier in the day Kiba had volunteered both Shikamaru and Naruto to help out with the decor of the gym for the upcoming Basketball season, the first match of which was hosted by Akiruno High.

"Can't believe you were offered a spot on the team and turned it down." Kiba compained.

"I can't Kiba. I have work after school. And I am not as good as you think."

"No, you are better. Do you have any idea what I would give to be in your shoes? The glory, the women..."

" Are troublesome." Shikamaru interrupted eyes still shut, Shiho glared at him for this.

"Everything is troublesome for you." Kiba exclaimed, "Don't even know what your lazy ass is doing here."

"Needed to catch up on some sleep without Asuma getting on my case." Shikamaru drawled.

"The banner looks great." Looking up he saw Rock Lee from a year above staring at their work.

"Thanks Lee- sempai." Shiho acknowledged.

Lee was one of the reserve players for the team. He was guaranteed to start next year being as athletically gifted as he was. Naruto gave Lee a nod of acknowledgement.

"Hello Naruto." Lee flashed Naruto a smile.

"Sempai."

"You know we really could use a player of your caliber in the team. Hayase hasn't stopped raving about your skills." Hayase was the team captain and after one game with Naruto he had exhausted all avenues to get him in.

"I would but I am still new to the school, and have some catching up to do not to mention my job doesn't leave me much free time." Naruto argued.

"Well I had to try. But if you decide to change your mind." Lee trailed off before joining his team for the cool down runs.

"You are crazy you know that." Kiba exclaimed once Lee left.

Naruto shrugged.

"God himself probably couldn't convince you to take up on Hayase's offer."

"Get the devil and I might think about it." Naruto muttered darkly now working to hang the banner they had been working on for the last 40 minutes, balancing himself on one of the ladders while Shiho held the other end, trying to find her balance on the other ladder.

"Make yourself useful Kiba and help her." Naruto ordered.

Kiba grumbled as he moved to hold the ladder Shiho was on.

Naruto felt it before he saw. Some of the team members were fooling around, when one of the guys chucked the basketball a little too hard. The boy chasing the basketball couldn't control his momentum and went crashing into the ladder Shiho was on. A look of terror on her face before she lost her balance completely.

When she opened her eyes she felt something soft underneath her. Turning around she saw blonde hair and blue eyes holding a hint of concern.

"You ok?" He asked

"Oh my God, Naruto are you okay?" Came the concerned voice of Ino.

"I am okay." Naruto answered back

"Infirmary, someone get him to the infirmary."

Several hands helped him up despite his protests that he was fine. But no one seemed to listen to him.

Soon he found himself being examined by the school nurse Shizune.

"Well everything seems to be in order." She told him after a check-up.

"That's what I said."

"It is a little surprising, you coming out of that fall without so much as a bruise."

"What can I say? I am sturdy." Naruto said nonchalantly.

"Well there is nothing more to do then. Go speak to the principal before you go."

Naruto nodded once and made his way to the principal's chambers.

Knocking twice on the door he was greeted with a command of "Come in."

Walking in to see a blonde-haired woman with probably the biggest assets he had ever seen.

"Ah! Uzumaki san please take a seat." The principal said.

Following her instructions Naruto grabbed a chair.

"You weren't injured I hope."

"No sensei."

"Good, just wanted to know how you were doing, and if you were adjusting well to our school."

"I am doing fine ma'am."

"Though it hasn't been a long time since you joined this school, your teachers have been impressed with your work so far."

"I am glad they think so."

"On the other hand you haven't given any thoughts to co-curricular s."

So this was what this was about.

"I have just joined and have yet to catch up on some work."

Tsunade nodded. She didn't get too many kids with his background. Lack of parents often forced children to grow up faster than they should have to."I take it you work as a part timer with the Ichiraku's."

Naruto nodded "I work there of my own volition. Teuchi san is my guardian, and I couldn't have asked for a better one."

"I am sure." Tsunade allowed. "well in that case if you need anything anytime you know my door is always open."

Understanding his dismissal Naruto was about to walk out.

"Good job saving Shiho san." She called out to him.

Naruto nodded once and walked out.

Outside he was ambushed by Ino, Sakura and another girl from a year above them with two buns of hair on the side of her head named Tenten.

"Are you okay?"

"I am fine Ino."

"That was really brave of you." Added Sakura.

"Or really stupid." Ino countered though her eyes held a glint of admiration for her fellow blonde.

"Thank you for saving my sister." Tenten offered her gratitude.

Naruto didn't know that.

"Glad I could help." Naruto said."Classes are over what are you guys doing here?"

"We got your bag. And wanted to make sure you were ok." Ino offered.

Glancing at his watch he suppressed a groan. He was going to be late.

"Sorry guys, I have to get to work. I will see you later."

Before any of the girls could react he had grabbed his bag and exited the school compound.

A/N:- **Here's the 3rd chapter done. I was hoping to add the museum scene in this chapter but decided against it. Stay tuned.**


	4. Museum blues

**A/N:** **First of all a special shout-out to clutsy gurl 97 and Namikaze541 for being the first to review my story. **

** Namikaze541's:- The answer to the first one will be revealed in due time as for the second one...without giving anything away I can say that they are from the past... Well now that we have gotten that out of the way...on with the tale.**

_Interpol case no. 7035 report:-_

_Date: 01 December 2009_

_The victim Akira Hongo was found dead in an alley two blocks from his home. Shot twice at point blank range, one bullet in his abdomen the other lodged in his heart. The weapon used was a Beretta M 1951, which was later found to have been that of the victim's. The victim was currently working as a project manager in NASA for the developing the next generation of satellite launch vehicles. While at first glance it looks like case of mugging gone wrong, foul play can't be ruled out yet. _

_Case status: Active._

**Chapter 4: Museum blues**

"Okay kids you 5 have been chosen to witness the inauguration of the Sengoku Museum." Tsunade said addressing the five 8th graders in front of her. "As you know the Governor himself will be the Guest of honor and so I expect all of you to be on your best behavior." She said meeting the eyes of all five of them, her gaze lingering at Kiba's for a second longer than others. Kiba turned pale at the implication in her eyes.

"There were supposed to be more of you. But other schools insisted on sending their own students and hence your current number. You will be joined by the students from Suna at the bus stop." Kiba suppressed a groan at this while the girls snickered at his reaction.

Naruto raised an eyebrow wondering what Kiba's reaction was about.

"Tell you later." Kiba muttered under his breath.

Naruto nodded at this. It was the day of their museum visit. When it had been announced that only 5 students were to be chosen for the trip, Naruto had been ecstatic, or as close to it as he could get, before he was told by Tsunade herself that he was going to be one of the 5. His protests were over -ruled and Tsunade took great pleasure in reminding him that if he had participated in extra-curriculars she wouldn't have insisted on it. She even went as far to call Teuchi who had been more than happy to give his blessing for it.

"You work too hard. Go on this actually might do you some good, and you are due some time off." Ayame had told him.

And now NJaruto was making his way to the bus stop along with Kiba, Ino, Sakura and another boy named Aoi who happened to be the best academic student of their class escorted by their art teacher Rei sensei, which made him wonder what Kiba was doing there. He was an average student at the best of times from what he had seen so far. Sakura and even Ino were known for their book- smarts. When he voiced the question aloud to Kiba, he admitted grudgingly that Tsunade and his mother were friends and she had Kiba join the team in the hopes that it will make him more culturally inclined.

Naruto couldn't suppress a snort at this. Kiba joined in the laughter. The words culturally inclined and Kiba never went into a sentence together. Over the past few days he and Kiba had developed an easy camaraderie. While Naruto liked Kiba's nice and easy-going if somewhat boisterous nature, while Kiba admired Naruto for his cool demeanor and athletic prowess. The only complaint Kiba had against Naruto was for his refusal to join the basketball team.

While his school life had settled into an easy pattern, it was Anko who made him uncomfortable. She hadn't approached him since the day she had offered him a ride inquiring about Iruka. But Naruto had a feeling she was waiting in the wings to corner him again.

"Hello Rei sensei it has been a long time." A voice greeted their sensei. Turning towards the source of the sound Naruto found himself staring at a tall, thin man wearing a smile dressed in a black trousers, white shirt with a blue blazer. 5 kids slightly older than themselves flanking the man.

"Baki sensei." Rei acknowledged her Suna counterpart.

"Forgive me Rei sensei but I was expecting Gai to be escorting them." Baki said.

"Gai is busy honing the team. The basketball season is approaching after all. In fact I am surprised you aren't with your team."

"Well they are as ready as they can be. Can't do wrong with them. We are ready to defend our title." Baki told her confidently.

Kiba gritted his teeth at that attracting Baki's attention.

"Ah! Its you." Baki looked like he wanted to say more but refrained, turning to Rei sensei "Shall we?"

"Of course." Rei replied cordially though her eyes indicated that she hadn't missed the way Baki was looking at one of her charges.

"Okay what was that all about?" Naruto asked a little bewildered.

Ino snickered before answering Naruto. "Kiba had incapacitated their basketball captain a couple of years ago leading them to lose their first championship final in 8 years."

"How did you do that?" Naruto asked

"Prank involving a bucket of blue paint, a 30 feet length of rope and lots of skittles."

"And Suna hasn't forgiven him since." Sakura said joining in the conversation.

"That's going a little far for a game of basketball isn't it?" Naruto said a little puzzled.

"The jerk was defiling my sister."Kiba snarled.

"He was her boyfriend." Ino countered.

Kiba grumbled something incoherent, his sister still hadn't forgiven him for that stunt. As they followed the Suna students led by Baki into the bus.

The Suna contingent consisted of a girl with straw blonde hair in two pigtails, a sneering red head, a black haired brown-eyed girl, another with auburn hair and the last was a tall wiry pale skinned boy.

Making their way to an empty seat naruto couldn't help but comment "You my friend are a flight risk. Can't believe Tsunade is sent you here knowing your history with Suna."

"I know. Though I think she is hoping the Suna kids might kill me for her." Kiba said darkly.

Kiba started making random conversation while Naruto tuned him out. As much as Naruto liked the kid he didn't know the meaning of the words inner voice.

Though tuning out Kiba led him to focus on the girls' chatter.

"I can't believe Takeshi asked you out." Sakura gushed. "You had a crush on him for so long."

Takeshi was the point guard in the team 3 years their senior and the only one who had vocally opposed Naruto's inclusion.

"I know. He did so after we made the cheerleader trials." Ino said in an excited tone.

"Isn't he a little old for you?" Sakura said sounding a little apprehensive. "And he just dumped Rimi."

"Maybe he decided I was better and 3 years isn't a lot." Ino protested.

At this point Naruto decided to tune them out. Issues of teenage girls wasn't something he was comfortable with and turned his attention back to Kiba.

"...and once I make the team Suna is going down."

"Big words from a little runt." Said the red-head sneering at Kiba.

"Come here and say that to my face." Kiba challenged.

The red head was about to jump from his seat, when the blonde girl with pigtails held him down.

"That's enough Kankuro." She said.

"That's right...Hey what did you that for?" Kina snarled at Naruto, who had cuffed his ear. Hearing his protest Naruto pointedly eyed at the teachers who were now staring at them. Seeing what Naruto was implying Kiba calmed down.

"I am sorry about my brother. He can be an idiot at times." The girl said to Naruto ignoring her brother's glare.

"I am sorry about Kiba. He is an idiot all the time. I am Naruto by the way." Naruto introduced himself ignoring Kiba's muttered curse of "i hate you"

"Temari and this is my brother Kankuro." She offered.

"Nice to meet you."

"So are you excited about the trip?" She asked Naruto making small talk.

"Sort of." Naruto said not willing to reveal that he was forced into this trip.

He fell into a casual conversation with Temari after this as she rattled on about her school and the history of the Sengoku period, which the museum specialized in. He found her relatively pleasant company and before long they were making their way into the parking area of the museum.

Disembarking from the bus Naruto spotted two buses similar to their own. Making their way to the museum Naruto saw that it was an impressive 2 floor structure supported by 30 feet pillars. The building was a rounded marble structure giving it an old-fashioned look. It was surrounded by a huge green lawn with walkways leading to the museum lined by pine trees.

The museum had four points of entry and exits. Metal detectors in front of each of them. uniformed armed guards manning the perimeter. The security around the museum was impressive. All of them were frisked for weapons once they had passed through the metal detectors, women guards frisked the girls.

Soon they were shown to a part of the compound where others were waiting. Four more schools other than Akiruno High and Suna High had volunteered their students for the inauguration. Naruto counted 20 more students escorted by 4 teachers.

After a waiting for a quarter of an hour a man who looked like the head of security approached Baki. The way the man carried himself suggested ex-military. His name-tag read Akisame.

"The Governor is here, please follow me." The man had a deep voice.

They were instructed to stand on the steps leading to the museum. A bunch of reporters were busy preparing their equipment. Before long a convoy of black sedans stopped near the entrance of the museum. A man in a black tuxedo walked out of one of the Sedans and opened the passenger seat. The man who came out was thoroughly unremarkable. He was a man in his late forties, stood at 5'5. His salt and pepper hair were parted to the right side of his scalp. Two small black eyes shadowed by thick eyebrows completed the picture. As he came out he was mobbed by the reporters. A man who looked like the proprietor of the museum approached him and led him away towards the entrance the reporters following in their wake.

_The man gazed at the Governor making his way into the museum. He had his doubts about what he was doing. There were so many innocents here, most of them children. But sometimes sacrifices are required for the greater good. He quashed his uneasiness, they had come too far for him to be getting cold feet now. This needed to be done and he will see it through._

The inauguration had been completed without much ceremony and the proprietor led them to the exhibits keeping a steady commentary. History was never really Naruto's cup of tea. But even he had to admit the museum was impressive to say the least. The museum had a good collection of artifacts from the Sengoku period including the armor of Nobunaga Oda.

Kiba's eyes had glazed five minutes after the lecture had began. Naruto kept up with the proprietor, Ino and Sakura had found a new friend in Temari, while Kankuro was glaring daggers at Kiba out of the corner of his eyes. It was when they were making their way to the second floor that Naruto's sense of uneasiness returned, as he saw two of the museum guards nodding at each other before switching places and Naruto caught the sight of what looked like firearms in a shoulder holster on both of them. He was sure no one else saw what he did.

"You okay man? you looked like you lost it there for a moment." Kiba said shaking Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Do you have network on your phone?" Naruto asked his voice calm but inside he was getting frantic.

"Now that you mention it no. I haven't had one since we entered this place."

Naruto swore under his breath. Someone was definitely jamming the signals and that could only mean one thing.

"I need to use the washroom." Naruto muttered to Kiba, make sure no one notices I am gone. I will be back in a few minutes. Kiba nodded not thinking much of Naruto's unusual request. Naruto noiselessly separated himself from the group as he walked away. Something was definitely wrong, weapons weren't allowed inside the museum and yet the guards below were armed and they were definitely being herded.

A minute after he had separated himself from the group he heard shots being fired followed by panicked screams.

So it begins. Naruto thought grimly to himself.

Ino's mind had shut down. One moment she was following the peaceful if a somewhat boring lecture of the proprietor, the next thing she knew, men in black fatigues armed with guns had shot the two bodyguards of the Governor and knocked out the proprietor. Soon screams rang through the air as everyone began running in a panicked rush. However there was nowhere to run as the stairs leading downstairs were guarded by two similarly armed guards.

"Now now. There is no need to panic kids. A voice rang through the air." The voice inspired terror like she had never felt in her life. The very air she was breathing seemed to suffocate her. Her best friend wasn't faring any better, as she was hyperventilating. Even Kiba looked ashen. In her moment of terror her mind didn't register the absence of Naruto.

The two men ushered them back towards the source of the voice, and for the first time Ino got a good look at their tormentor. He was a tall man dressed in a black muscle shirt, and green cargo pants. His black eyes glinting with malice and half of his face covered with a mask. The governor had been forced to his knees, his bodyguards shot dead. Ino almost lost her breakfast at the sight of the dead guards, and Sakura did, though she wasn't the only one. The man ignored the vomiting children and continued. "My name is Zabuza and I will be taking over this history lesson, and trust me it will be a lesson no one will ever forget."

It was the weekend and Anko like all weekenders began a late morning. A shower and a cup of coffee later she had just flipped the newspaper open. The front page was focused on how a Government policy had backfired courtesy of a corrupt minister. Anko chuckled at the image of the minister which was given priority on the page. Politicians, when they weren't screwing their mistresses they were screwing the country. The ring of her phone brought her out of her musings. The ring irritating her. It was her work phone and she silently cursed the caller. If it was Aoba again pestering her for a date... However the caller id displayed a way more important but far less welcome name of her superior. Dreading the call she picked up.

"Hello." Anko said tentatively.

"Officer Mitarashi, its a code green." The cool, no-nonsense voice of the superintendent informed her.

Code green was a hostage situation.

"Where?" Anko said her demeanor turning professional.

"Sengoku Museum."

At this she knew the situation was far from ordinary. the perpetrators had the Governor hostage.

"I will be there sir." She cut-off the call saying so.

Pulling on her uniform and her assigned weapon she hurried to report to her superiors. This was going to be a long day.

**A/N:- Ok guys chapter 4 done. drop a line and tell me what you think.**


	5. Choices

**Chapter 5: Choices**

**Sengoku museum Time: 11:03 Am**

"Is everyone accounted for?" Zabuza asked one of his men.

"All except one." Came the reply.

Zabuza froze. Turning his malevolent eyes to his subordinates,"You have 1 minute to convince me that you deserve to live."

The man swallowed audibly. "There were 30 students who walked in. 29 are accounted for and are being held in the gallery."

"You are not exactly making your case stronger here you know, if you are telling me its a kid that is unaccounted for." Zabuza taunted maliciously placing the muzzle of his weapon under the man's chin.

"He must have separated himself from the group during the tour." The man stuttered.

Zabuza eyes went blank at that and he pulled the trigger, the result being an empty click. The man huffed a sigh of relief before without warning Zabuza smashed his face with the butt of his weapon. The man collapsed on the floor spitting blood.

"The only reason I am leaving you alive is because I need my men alive. So you can thank your lucky stars, while I go and clean up your mess." Zabuza said leaving his man groaning in pain on the floor he walked into the gallery where all the hostages were being held. It had been 15 minutes since the operation had begun. Everything went smoothly but now this snag no matter how small was annoying the hell out of him. The hysteria which had gripped his hostages had given way to acceptance for now. Good for them, a little more of that and he would have started shooting.

Walking into the gallery he saw the hostages visibly cower at his sight. He couldn't suppress a smirk at this. Good he thought fear should keep them in line. But he had bigger things to worry about at the moment. Walking to the front of the group he addressed them.

"Well we have a full class here." Zabuza said in a jaunty tone."All eager to learn. But " Zabuza paused for effect. "The class isn't exactly at full strength is it? One of your number is playing truant, and that just won't do..." At this one of his men approached him and whispered something in his ear.

On processing the information his man gave him, he approached Rei. Sitting on his hunches so as to get to her eye-level. Rei flinched at this. "Well it looks like we have a winner. So, sensei it seems like one of your students isn't here. Care to enlighten me as to where he is."

"I don't know." Rei replied in a muted tone not meeting his eyes.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Zabuza said in a sardonic tone.

"I really don't know." Rei was almost sobbing now.

"Hmmm... I really wish I could believe you." Placing his weapon on her temple he decided to squeeze the trigger.

"Wait." A voice spoke up, halting Zabuza. He knew this would work.

Removing his gun he swallowed his smirk and turned to the owner of the voice, a wild haired, brown-eyed boy.

"Yes?" Zabuza said with a hint of malice in his voice.

"He went to use the washroom during the tour." The boy said.

"How long ago was this?"

"Just before... you know." Kiba said and Zabuza caught his meaning. Just before they made their move. Just great all this planning and it unravels because one brat doesn't have control over his bladder. The universe must really hate him.

"All is not lost sir." Said Gozu one of his more competent underlings. He along with his twin Meizu were Zabuza's most trusted men. . "Its just one boy. Its not like he can get out of here. Nor can he contact anyone else. The jammers have taken care of that."

Zabuza let out a sigh Gozu was right. What could one boy do afterall? But still the boy was a variable and he didn't like surprises.

"Be that may, for now get the others to look for the boy." Zabuza ordered.

"Yes, sir." Gozu replied.

Kiba felt like a dirt bag right now. He was betraying his friend. The fact that he did it to save his sensei's life wasn't making him feel any better about it. He just hoped Naruto could stay hidden long enough for help to arrive. What they would do to him if they found him didn't even warrant thinking.

"Don't beat yourself over it." Came a voice from his right and Kiba was surprised to see it was Baki who obviously had seen his distress over what he saw as betrayal to his friend. "You did what you had to do." Baki said placing a hand on his shoulder. At this one of their captors shouted a warning telling Baki to shut up. Baki removed his arm but his eyes held Kiba's for a little longer, a message of comfort in them. Kiba nodded back at Baki indicating his appreciation.

Anko stepped out of her car. A look around told her of the gravity of the situation. Nearly every police officer in the city was present there. Right now they were busy setting up a perimeter.

"Sergeant Mitarashi." A voice greeted her. Turning around she saw that it was a Sergeant who had addressed her.

"Yes sir."

"Follow me."

He led her to Morino Ibiki the Superintendent of her ex-department. A tall intimidating man with twin scars running diagonally across his face. The scars were the results of an undercover operation gone horribly wrong. Rumor was that Ibiki blew his own cover so as to get the information that was vital to the case leading him to gain the moniker of 'The Shark' due to his dogged pursuit of any clue as a shark would pursue a drop of blood in an ocean. As an interrogation specialist Anko had only the greatest respect for Ibiki who had been her mentor ever since she had joined the force before she was transferred to Special Assault Team.

"What's the situation sir?"

"36 hostages excluding the Governor. The perpetrators number unknown, though estimated to be more than 10. Its been more than two and half hours since the situation arose."

"What's our plan of attack sir?"

"We have none." Ibiki replied grimly.

"I am sure I misheard you sir, but I was sure I heard you say we have no plan of attack."

"You heard right Sergeant. We have no plan of attack."

"Permission to speak freely sir."

"Granted."

"What the hell Ibiki? What are you playing at?" Anko screamed at her mentor.

Ibiki gave her a levelled glare expecting this reaction.

"You tell me." Ibiki said offering Anko his place along with a pair of binoculars. One look was all it took for Anko to feel like an idiot for doubting her Ibiki as the reason they didn't have a plan of attack became clear to her. The museum was surrounded by 500 yards of open lawns, making getting an infiltration team in impossible. Lack of buildings or any elevated areas in the vicinity put snipers out of the equation as well. Seeing the situation in front of her Anko couldn't help but summarise the situation rather eloquently.

"Shit!"

"I thought so." Ibiki said grimly.

Handing the binoculars back to Ibiki, Anko walked away trying to gather her thoughts. Her brain refused to come up with a plan which wasn't suicidal. Whoever these guys were they were good. If only she could get some one in,if only for logistics. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her phone adding to her annoyance. Checking the caller id told her that it was an unknown number. Deciding to ignore the call in favor of the situation in hand she cancelled the call. But before long her phone started ringing again. She ignored it a second time, the third time it rang Anko answered it.

"I hope for your sake that you are either a hostage or a terrorist, cause if you aren't either.."

"Well good thing I happen to fit one of the criteria then." A voice interrupted her from the other end. Anko froze forgetting all about the hostage situation, about Ibiki, about everything. Of all the people who could have called her, he was the last person she expected this from. It wasn't everyday that Anko was struck speechless.

"Na...Naruto." She stammered.

"You are a hard person to reach Anko san." Came the sardonic reply.

_**One hour ago**_

Part of Naruto was still wondering why he was doing this. He could let the events play out, keep in hiding till they are rescued or they are let go following a negotiation. But another part of him felt responsible. He should have seen this coming. The signs were all there and he had ignored them lulled by the security of civilian life. He didn't know what he could have done to prevent this situation, but the fact that he had ignored the signs alone counted as a failure in his book and he hated failing. So he would make this right any way he could. So far he had managed to avoid the guards while keeping an eye on them. There were 15 of them. The exits were lined with C-4 explosives. As far as he could tell the detonator was primed to receive microwave signals. He couldn't deactivate the bombs without getting caught, but if he could somehow get close enough he might be able to change the frequency for detonation. But even that seemed impossible at the moment. He had come up with a plan. One of the shorter guards was within an inch of his height. He could infiltrate this group. He had spent the last hour or so observing his mark. The fact that all of them had face-masks made his job easier. Well time to get to work.

His guard was relatively relaxed. After all the plan had gone flawlessly so far. Zabuza's plan was flawless if only they could find the missing boy. But then one pubescent boy was hardly worth the trouble as he couldn't make any contact with the outside world. In another 12 hours they would be out of here with enough funds to fuel their coup. So engrossed was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice the shadow land behind him. He didn't notice it creeping behind him. He did notice the fingers that enclosed around his throat though. But before he could do more than widen his eyes, the fingers had already crushed his windpipe. He died a quickly but painfully.

Naruto dragged the body away. He had two minutes at most, before they figured something was wrong. Dragging the body he pushed it inside one of the sarcophagus in the Egyptian gallery. Hurriedly pulling his clothes on over his own. The man was built more heavily than a 14 year old. So Naruto left his clothes on to make up for the bulk, put on the mask and he was ready. Picking up the weapon he was ready to pick up the patrol.

He made his way to the hallway. Modifying his voice to match it with that of his unfortunate victim, he spoke into the radio.

"This is Alpha-1 reporting. Hallway 3 is clear." He waited for confirmation with bated breath.

"Roger that Alpha-1. Keep your eyes out for tangos as well as for the kid. Zabuza's ready to burst a vein if the kid isn't found soon."

Naruto froze for a second on hearing that name. It was a name he was familiar with and it didn't bode well. He knew it was asking for too much when he expected his life to be easy.

"Copy that." Naruto spoke into the radio.

Approaching the doors with the explosives, he started his work on them. This will take some time, though he hoped to be done before someone came to check on them. It took 3 minutes to make one circuit around the museum. There were 3 of them patrolling the floor. Which gave him one minute to finish what he was doing. He needed only 45 seconds. He wasn't trying to deactivate the bombs after all. He just needed to change the frequency, so that Zabuza couldn't detonate them.

Naruto had changed detonation frequency of of the bomb by his 6th round of patrol. It had gone smoothly enough, and the others didn't suspect a thing. After nearly 20 minutes of regular patrolling Naruto was feeling a little lost. Deactivating the bombs was as far as he had gone in his planning, which while crucial didn't help the situation much. The bombs were there prevent anyone escaping and there didn't seem to be any possibility of that happening any time soon. So while he had successfully derailed plan B wouldn't make much of a difference if plan A succeeded. He decided to make contact with the cops who were milling outside the compound. Using the binoculars he had found on his victim he gazed out into the compound, and seeing the familiar figure of Mitarashi Anko made his decision for him. Though at the moment he didn't know how. Someone was scrambling the signals making mobile phones useless. While a portable signal scrambler could kill the network of all phones within 15 yards. To do this over this large an area required you would need some heavy duty equipment. Equipment which would require constant supply of electricity. Something like the guard room, which was used to monitor the cameras inside the museum.

Deciding to follow this line of thought Naruto made his way to the guard room.

"This is Alpha-1 I am gonna go check the basement for activity." Naruto reported.

"Roger that."

Walking to a soda machine he grabbed a couple of cans of coke and knocked on the door to the guard room.

"Come in." Came a high reedy voice.

Naruto walked in to find a thin bespectacled man, in his late twenties hunched over a laptop attached to various paraphernalia.

"So how is it going?" Naruto asked.

"Well its all boring for the moment. Scrambling the signals of all the cell phones in the building. Its child's play."

"That is why Zabuza keeps you around. You are useful. Coke?" Naruto offered

"Why thank you. You military types are so uptight. Atleast one of you is approachable." He said popping open the can taking a sip."Aahh...that hits the spot."

"So how long is the range of this thing?" Naruto asked the man.

"This baby covers nearly 500 yards. Need to keep her juiced up though unlike the battery operated ones though."

"Of course. No blind spots I suppose."Naruto said keeping his tone nonchalant.

"Anything mobile phone outside this room is about as useful as a pebble." The man said before chugging the rest of the drink and burping loudly.

"You really watered down your drink." Naruto said faking amazement.

"Yeah back in my college days I used to be known as the soda chugging king." The man said pride evident in his voice.

"You don't say." Naruto said popping the second can. "Prove it then. Bet you 100 that you can't chug this down in 20 seconds."

"Won't need more than 15."

The man took 13 seconds.

"Wow you are the man." Naruto said in an awed voice.

"Flattery will get you everywhere. I will still need the money though."

Naruto groaned as he placed the money in his hands.

"You don't mind staying here while I make a trip to the toilet do you?" The man asked him. Naruto barely suppressed a smirk at this.

"Sure man go ahead take your time."

As soon as the man left the room. Naruto took his cell and began dialling the one number he hoped he wouldn't ever have to use. But once he dialled he found that she kept cutting her calls. On his 3rd try she finally answered.

"I hope for your sake that you are either a hostage or a terrorist, cause if you aren't either.."

"Well good thing I happen to fit one of the criteria then." Naruto interrupted her.

"Na...Naruto." Came the eloquent response from the other end.

"You are a hard person to reach Anko san." Naruto said not being able to help his sardonic tone. He knew he was taking a big risk. But he had run out of choices. There were lives on the line here. He had made his choice and he was ready to live with the consequences.

**Well I was gonna wait a while before posting this. But couldn't help myself. Could really use more reviews. Thanx to Namikaze541 for your glowing review of the last chapter. **


	6. Demon among humans

**Chapter 6: The demon among humans**

Anko froze as she listened to what her neighbor had gotten himself into.

"Now I don't have a lot of time, so I am going to make this quick. There are 11 of them. 3 are patrolling the ground floor, 3 the first floor, 3 are guarding the hostages in first floor. One of them is for technical support, and is jamming the signals. The leader calls himself Zabuza is with the Governor. I don't know where he is keeping him yet." Naruto rattled off. "Now please tell me you have some sort of extraction plan."

"We are working on one." Anko managed still slightly in shock that Naruto was calling from a hostage situation.

Naruto didn't like the sound of that one.

"What are you doing Naruto?" Anko finally managed.

"I am masquerading as one of the terrorists. I got one of them and took his place. Now listen, you need to find a way to get these people out of here and fast, because I don't think he intends anyone to get out of here alive. Don't ask me how I know that. Don't have time to explain."

"Well then you won't like what I have to say. We can't help you. At least not yet." Anko said.

Naruto went silent.

"Keep your men in position. At my cue you will have to get these people out."

"What are you gonna..." Anko began, but was only to be greeted by the dial tone from the other end.

"Damn you kid..." Anko swore in frustration. His actions might get everyone killed in there, but at the same time he also was the only hope they had. Somehow having a 14 year old boy as their last hope didn't sit too well with her. Specially a 14 year old intent on playing hero. What choice did she have?

Naruto cut the call when he heard the technician turning the door knob to walk back in. He cut it real close with that one.

Naruto took that as his cue.

"Well okay then, I better get back to my patrol. Boss won't be happy if i extend my break too long."

"Sure thing man. Thanks for dropping in."

Checking his gear once more he walked out. He regretted having called Anko now. It didn't get anything done and his situation wasn't any better than when he started. Taking a few breaths to get his focus back, he decided on a plan of action and a grim smile broke in his face. The plan he had in mind was simple, brutal and incredibly reckless. But if he waited for the police it would be too late. He checked his inventory. An MP-5 rifle, with with an extra magazine. That gave him 60 usable rounds, a hunting knife, a pair of binoculars and the element of surprise. He had worked with worse before.

Governor Satoshi was an incredible politician and an effective administrator. In a career spanning over 25 years he had maneuvered his opponents and sometimes even his allies into potentially dangerous waters keeping the big picture in mind. However for all his cunning and sharpness he was as helpless as any in front of a guy holding a gun to his head. The apparent leader of the group was pacing back and forth in front of him. Screwing up his courage the Governor found his tongue.

"What do you want?"

"I want a lot of things Governor. But I would settle for changing the world."

"You must be crazy if you think you can change the world." Satoshi couldn't help a retort only to feel the butt of an MP-5 rifle on his head.

"You know what they say, the sane my run the world but its the crazies who change it." Zabuza burst into laughter at his own observation.

Anko was going frantic. She didn't know what Naruto had planned but she didn't want to find out. She had to find Ibiki.

"What do you mean you want me to move the perimeter closer inside the compounds?" Ibiki asked Anko mystified.

"It has been 3 hours Ibiki, the terrorists have yet to make contact. We have to make a move, or at least force them to make one. This stalemate isn't helping anybody." Anko said not mentioning any of the information she had gotten from Naruto. She wasn't sure how she could explain the situation to Ibiki. _Hey Ibiki guess what? My 14 year old neighbor has somehow managed to kill one of the terrorists and infiltrated the group. _Even in her head this was one conversation she didn't see going well. Though she better check the name the kid dropped. Zabuza if she remembered right.

"That's not a good idea Anko. We don't know anything about who these guys are. Walking into the compound just decreases whatever tactical advantage we have at the moment."

"I think you are underestimating these guys Ibiki. They know what they are doing and they know what you would do. And I don't think waiting till nightfall is going to help."

"And why is that?" Ibiki asked puzzled conceding his subordinate might have stumbled on to something he had missed.

"Don't you think its weird how they aren't pressed for time. The longer they wait, the lesser their chances of getting out alive after all."

Ibiki cursed under his breath. He couldn't believe he had overlooked something like this. If what Anko was trying to say was correct, then the terrorists weren't planning on extending this till nightfall, when the police would have the tactical advantage. Getting a team under the cover of darkness inside the museum was a possible if a risky maneuver. That meant that they either expected to achieve their objectives by then or they planned on killing all the hostages anyway.

Anko was right they had to force a hand here.

"I want teams alpha, delta and charlie to move inside the compound. The rest hang back. And someone get me that god damn chopper." Ibiki spoke into his radio.

Anko sighed in relief, while dialing another number.

"Hey there Anko. Thought you had forgotten about me." Came a cheerful voice from the other end.

"Shut up Dave. I am in the middle of a hostage situation and I need some off the books information."

"What do you need?" Dave said his voice going serious.

"What can you tell me about Zabuza?"

The line went silent for a while.

"Do you mean Zabuza Momochi?" Came the somber voice of Dave.

"Probably."

"Well I sure hope not. Cause this guy is bad news."

"What do you mean?"

"No one is exactly sure where he came from. Rumors say that he used to be one of the good guys at one time. But thats just rumor. He has no known nationality, no family that anyone knows of. What we do know is that he was a mercenary, hiring out his services to anyone who paid enough. But then it seems he bit off more than he could chew when he tried to assassinate the monarch of Thailand a couple of years ago. Got pretty close too."

"Okay thanks Dave. Is there anything else you can tell me about him."

"Yeah. There is one other thing you should know. It is said one of his exploits as a mercenary during his earlier days earned him the rather infamous moniker of..."

Demon. A name he carried with some pride. After all angels had no place their line of business. Especially when the business took him to hell. Countless lives ended by him, and who knows how many more he would end up taking before he was put to sleep. Like many others in this line of business Zabuza had no illusions about his mortality. The way he lived he knew any day could be his last. He had lost his fear of death the day he had made his first kill. It wasn't a target for assassination, nor was he a soldier. His first act of killing had been pure self-defense. It was either him or the other guy. During his more thoughtful moments Zabuza had wondered what would it be like if it was he who died that day. Would the other guy have gained as much notoriety as Zabuza did, maybe more. But that's how far he went with his thoughts. It wasn't his time to die then. When his time came, he would go gladly into death's embrace, knowing his place in hell.

"This is Alpha-3 the tangos are moving closer. They are pushing the perimeter in." His radio burst to life.

Zabuza frowned for a moment, which was soon replaced by a smile. Well if they are pushing, its time to push back. Makes things interesting.

"Give me the phone Gozu and tell Shuei to deactivate the jammers. Its time we had a talk with the cops." He ordered his subordinate.

"The men are in position sir."

Ibiki nodded his acknowledgement. Its just a matter of time now. He wasn't disappointed on that front, when he was approached by one of his subordinates.

"Its the control room sir, its the terrorist. He has initiated contact."

"Put me on." Ibiki said with a grim smile.

"Yes?" Ibiki spoke into his headphones.

"Who am I speaking to?" Came a deep voice from the other end.

"This is Superintendent Ibiki, but I must say you have me at a disadvantage, so I would say introductions are in order."

"I don't know about that. My mother did tell me something about talking with strangers."

"Oh yeah and what was that?" Ibiki said playing along.

"Something along the lines of...don't do it. And you really need a better understanding of the concept of personal space. Your men are a little too close for comfort you see."

"Well you didn't seem to keen on talking..."

"No shut up and listen to me." The man hissed at Ibiki, all playfulness gone. "I want your men to move back."

"I can't do that. You see you have the Governor hostage and the higher ups are putting pressure on me to get something done. And as pointless as this is I want to be seen doing something." Ibiki said. He was an old hand at this game. Make the opponent think he has the upper hand. Which his opponent did at the moment.

"Well I have 36 bodies that are waiting to die of acute lead poisoning. And I don't think your higher ups are going to be amused when they find out that in your zeal to do something, you got the hostages, most of them are children mind you, killed." The man sneered.

"Seems we are at an impasse then. So why don't you tell me what you want and we will take it from there."

There was a pause at the other end.

"The only thing I want right now is for you to move your men out of the compounds. If I don't see them moving in 2 minutes I am going to start shooting." Saying so he cut the call.

Ibiki smirked. He now knew all the hostages were safe for now and the Governor was held away from the other hostages. He said 36 bodies, which was kind of a give away. It was a small victory, but in a game like this you take what you can get. He signaled for his men to get back.

Zabuza just went off the phone and started tapping the phone on his forehead.

"Is there a warehouse or the like in this museum?" Zabuza asked Gozu.

"There is a vault of sorts in the ground floor used as a storehouse of sorts." Came the reply.

"Good. I want you to move all the hostages there. Choose 2 more men and get on with it." Zabuza ordered.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Gozu along with his brother Meizu had been with Zabuza since almost the beginning of his career as a mercenary. As such their loyalty to him went beyond the call of duty sometimes. The same couldn't be said for the others who had joined him. But in this line of work where loyalty was only as good as the next pay-check, it was a luxury. But even then he was bewildered by the behavior of one of the men who had been chosen to escort the prisoners to the warehouse. His surprise at the turn of events was only surpassed by the horror at how wrong everything had gone as he sat there chocking on his blood, courtesy of the knife which had gone through his throat. The last thing he saw were the cold blue eyes of his killer.

Naruto contemplated his next move as he pulled out the knife out of his victim and wiping the blood off. Finally things were going his way. He nearly jumped for joy when he was ordered to escort the hostages to the warehouse. With the hostages no longer in the way courtesy of being locked in the warehouse, Naruto could finally focus on eliminating the perpetrators. The first opportunity came when once the hostages were locked inside, and one of them started planting a brick of C-4 outside the door. Naruto had casually walked to the man, and before his unfortunate victim realized it, snapped his neck. Before the other guy could comprehend what was going on, Naruto had flicked his knife at his throat killing the man instantaneously.

Working his voice into what he thought to be appropriate amount of panic, Naruto screamed into the radio.

"Code red. We are under attack. I repeat we are under attack. One tango, he has already taken out the team leader...Aaahhhh!" He shouted a few rounds into the air. Sometimes a little overkill can do wonders.

Zabuza's eyes widened in shock as he listened to the voices on the radio. It was impossible that someone had infiltrated the museum. He knew for sure that no one could enter the museum without his knowledge. Which meant it was one of the people inside the museum. The hostages could be ruled out. That left the missing boy...or their was a traitor in their midst. He didn't know what situation he would rather be in. Gozu was most likely dead.

"Damn." Zabuza swore.

"This is Charlie 1. Your orders sir." Meizu said his voice vibrating with anger.

Despite the situation Zabuza maintained a calm head. He still had the Governor. He could do away with the hostages.

"Neutralize the hostages. That should be your primary objective. If you can, kill the tango. Don't engage otherwise. Rendezvous at check point."

A slight pause later Meizu replied. "Roger that sir."

Meizu took 3 of the men with him and made his way to the warehouse. He was a soldier first. Revenge can wait. Part of him was hoping to run into the man who had killed his brother, but for now he would follow his orders.

Some way away from the warehouse they saw the first body, lying prone on the ground, face down. "Check him." He ordered one of his men.

The formation they were using, was standard. It covered all the angles and allowed everyone to cover the other's back. There were no hiding place nearby, so it was a poor place of ambush... Theoretically. However Meizu couldn't help but feel uneasy at the situation. His fears were justified . The current formation allowed them to cover any ground attack. The one thing it didn't count on was an aerial one.

Naruto smiled. He was in position directly 30 feet above them. Sticking to the ceiling. As soon as one of them made his way to their fallen comrade, Naruto dropped down. It was nearly perfect. The element of surprise again in his favor, he landed directly on top of their team leader. Smashing his face on the concrete floor. The others recovered from their surprise rather well. The two behind him managed to get a few rounds off. Rolling away Naruto avoided the shots, taking cover behind a pillar.

"Go get the hostages." One of them shouted."We will take care of this clown." The man ran directly into the tripwire Naruto had placed around the corner triggering the brick of C4 that was to be used for the warehouse. Rolling into a ball Naruto Naruto protected himself from the worst of the blast. However the concussive force still knocked the breath out of him as he was slammed on the wall. The others weren't so lucky. The man who had triggered the blast was blown to bits. The other two while not close to the blast were neither prepared for the debris nor for the concussive force of the blast and were dead before they knew it.

Naruto coughed as he inhaled the dust-filled air around him. His ribs hurt something fierce. He had probably cracked a few. A fair trade he supposed for taking out 4 of the enemy. He had to make them run into his somewhat primitive trap. With caution they could have avoided it. But by attacking them, he forced them to rush if not outright panic. He picked up the MP-5 rifle. Time to get the hostages out.

Ino flinched as she heard what felt like gunshots and then an explosion. Part of her was terrified. But the other part was hopeful that perhaps they were being rescued. It had been barely 10 minutes since they had been locked inside. It was a narrow confined place. Barely enough for 35 people. . The place was cluttered with paintings, ceramic jars and the like. She felt Sakura flinch each time she heard a gunshot and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of explosion. Kiba beside her was equally restless. Then suddenly it all stopped. After a nerve-wracking minute or two.

"What do you think happened?" Came the voice of Temari from the darkness.

Before anyone could answer there was the unmistakable sounds of the door being unlocked. Everyone froze when they saw one of the terrorists. He was short, standing at 5'3 or 5'4, masked like the others, but was leaning on the side of the door, holding his weapon at the hip, the muzzle facing down.

Before anyone could react, he spoke.

"I need you to take the exits and get out of here fast. No matter what happens and what you hear, you don't stop, you don't look back. The cops are outside and they will help you. Is that understood?" Everyone nodded once too dazed to speak.

"Then go now."

At this everyone rushed out. Before Kiba and Ino held on to the figure.

"Our friend, he is still in here somewhere." she said with a hint of desperation in her voice.

"If he is not with you he is probably in hiding." Naruto said suppressing a groan. Of all the times to have a fit of loyalty. "Run for now." Naruto urged. Ino looked like she was hesitating before Kiba and Sakura held her by the arms and dragged her away.

Naruto took the luxury of a deep breath before making his way out of the room. He had work to do.

"What do you mean the explosives failed. The hostages are walking out of the front door." Zabuza screamed into the radio.

"I don't know what's wrong?" Came the frantic voice from the other end.

"What do we do now?" One of his remaining men asked.

"Get the Governor. We will have to negotiate our way out of this mess."

"What about the tango?"

"Its open season now. You see anything that so much as breathes other than us. You bring it down." Zabuza snarled.

Naruto loved this skill. It allowed him to walk on vertical surfaces. Something which had been developed during his early years. Once again it had allowed him to get the drop on the two who were sent to retrieve the Governor. The Governor was being kept in one of the smaller galleries, which held the personal effects of Nobunaga Oda. While small compared to the other galleries it was still large and that became a problem if the fight dragged on. A sharp strike to the throat took care of on of the men. Though he had managed to put one out of the fight. The other was quick enough to get Behind the Governor and had him at gun point.

"Move a muscle and he gets it."The man screamed at him. Naruto stared at the man. At this range he shouldn't have a problem putting a bullet in the guy, but he was holding a hostage. Reflexes honed from years of training came into play as he dodged a hail of bullets coming from behind him.

Great he thought to himself. Now he was flanked from both sides.

"So you are the fool who decided to play hero." Came the taunting voice of Zabuza.

"And yet I am not the one who tried to assassinate a monarch, and tried to take a Governor hostage." Naruto retorted back playing for time.

"So you have heard of me. But who are you?" Zabuza's annoyance at the failure of his plans was only exceeded by his curiosity for who this man was.

"I am not telling you." Naruto said cheekily.

"I am really going to enjoy killing you."

"Tell me one thing Zabuza. How do you even plan on coming out on top of this? You took a Governor hostage. Even if you walked away today. You would be even more hunted than you are now." Naruto asked genuinely curious.

Zabuza broke into a full-blown laughter at this leaving Naruto nonplussed.

"Oh I wish you knew what I did." Zabuza said stifling his chuckles somewhat.

"You!" Naruto shouted at the man holding the Governor. "You have realized how this ends right. You have lost. Surrender now and you might live. Let the man go. The cops are outside and they will walk in any minute now."

The man hesitated. Seeing his man weakening Zabuza pointed his weapon away from Naruto towards his own man and squeezed the trigger.

Time slowed for Naruto. He could see what Zabuza was about to do. The man had a clear line of sight while remaining hidden from Naruto. He did the only thing he could. He dived towards the Governor as the bullets riddled his captor. Catching the Governor in a flying tackle Naruto got him behind the armor of Oda.

"Its over Zabuza." Naruto shouted.

"It will be over when I am dead."

"So be it." Jumping out of his cover he ran along the wall towards Zabuza firing at the same time. Zabuza a little surprised at the bum-rush maneuver missed him, he had never seen a human move that fast. Naruto quickly closed the distance between them acrobatically leaping from behind one pedestal to the next. Zabuza was almost out of bullets by the time Naruto reached him. Naruto had his weapon drawn and had Zabuza within his sights when Zabuza surprised him by flicking his hunting knife at him, which Naruto evaded...barely. But he was too close to Zabuza now for him to jump and grab hold of the boy. A punch to the solar plexus knocked all the air from Naruto's lungs, followed by a haymaker to the face and a kick to his already bruised ribs. Naruto may have been strong for his age and he was fast for any age period, but once Zabuza had closed the distance his monstrous strength made a rag doll out of him. Using the momentum of the last blow, Naruto flipped backwards onto his feet, kicking Zabuza in the face in the process. Getting some much needed breathing room, he drooped to all fours before jumping and smashing into Zabuza's abdomen with his head. Zabuza recovered faster than he expected however and soon had his arms around Naruto's neck getting him in a choke hold. Naruto was helpless now. He was flailing weakly against Zabuza's hold. As a desperate measure, he managed to get his legs around Zabuza's neck somehow and summoning a strength he didn't know he had he flipped him over causing his head to smash into the concrete floor. Naruto plopped down onto the ground massaging his throat.

He had done it. Blinking away the dark spots in his eyes, he was surprised to see Zabuza conscious.

"You changed nothing today." Zabuza smirked. Naruto's danger senses started tingling again and his body was again moving out of the way of projectiles shot from the barrel of a Remington. Unlike any other time today however he was unable to dodge it. The force of the shot lifting him off his feet.

**Well that's the 6th chapter done. Longer than the others. But I didn't want to keep beating a dead horse. And what's with the lack of reviews guys. Come on show me some love here. I have had over 700 hits for the first 5 chapters but have 4 reviews to show for it. So once again please review.**


	7. Different approach

**A/N: Well am sorta disappointed. Still not getting the responses I want. 6 reviews? Seriously? Come on guys. Give me something to work with. So, I have decided that the frequency of my updates will depend on the response to my story. Anyway thanks to Rhonkar for some insights into my writing style, though just to make one thing clear, Naruto is the main character. Don't know what I can do about it yet. But I promise to do my best. Also thanks to iamnarutofan2200 for reviewing. I would like to say to everyone who has raised questions about project Konoha and Naruto's past, that keep following the story. I have dropped hints and will keep dropping them, so by the time everything is revealed you would have figured it out or at least begun to. Its a puzzle and everything will fall into place in due time. Trust me when I say everything will make sense, and I know exactly where I am going with this. As it is I have barely scratched the surface. So buckle up my friends, this is gonna be one wild ride.**

**Chapter 7: Different approach**_  
_

_"It's time 9, for you to enter the next stage of your training." He was told. He nodded. He followed the man as he was expected to. That's all he knew. Orders and following those orders. He was led to the office of 'The Leader'. That's what he was called. The office was a plain and simple structure with a desk, and two chairs on either side of the table. One of those chairs was occupied by 'The Leader'. The man was heavily bandaged. They covered his entire torso and three-quarters of his face. Only a part of his right cheek and his right eye were visible under a mop of jet black hair. His left arm remained immobile. His visage as expressionless as the soldiers he commanded. This was the first time he had seen the Leader and felt something which he would later know to be terror. Leader studied him with a passive stare. Soon The Leader entered a conversation with his escort completely disregarding him._

_"So he is the one." Leader commented._

_"Yes, sir." Came the reply from the man who had escorted him there._

_"Are you sure he is up to it? We have already lost too many to this process. Any more failures and I would have to shelf the project entirely." Leader said his voice laced with a warning tone._

_"You know as well as I why we can't shelf the project."_

_"I know. But I can't use dead or insane soldiers."_

_"I know, that's why we are going to use a different approach now." The man said in a placating tone._

_"Fine. Do what you have to." Leader finally conceded._

_At a gesture from The leader the door to the office opened and in came a young man with scar running horizontally across his face over his face. _

_"9 is your responsibility from now on." The man was told. He merely nodded once in assent._

_The scarred man led him out of the office soon after this._

_"Well I sure am glad to get out of that stuffy office aren't you?" The scarred man addressed the boy in a jaunty tone as he walked beside him his arms behind his head._

_He merely stared at the man, not sure how to react._

_"Oh boy! we sure have our work cut out with you." The man whistled. "But gotta start somewhere. So what's your name?" The man asked him, curiosity lacing his tone._

_"Name?" He questioned the man not understanding._

_At this the man's face went blank, then it seemed he was trying to stop himself from throwing up._

_"Never mind what does everyone call you?" The man said after gaining some semblance of control over his emotions._

_"9." Came his reply._

_The man seemed to struggle with himself for some time, before putting on a smile._

_"Well 9, its nice to meet you. I am Iruka."_

"...ake way, we have an injured boy here."

"...get him to the medic."

"...unconscious...cial injuries maybe a ...cussion." Came a vaguely familiar voice.

Then it hit him, hostage situation, Zabuza, him dressed in combat garb..._ Crap!_

He tried to sit up, but was held back by a pair of strong arms._  
_

"Take it easy kid. You hit your head pretty hard." Came the concerned voice of Anko.

As he came to his senses he realized he was strapped to a gurney at what looked like a paramedic van. Looking down he found that he was dressed in his normal school uniform. He breathed a sigh of relief and found himself staring into Anko's eyes.

"Thank you." He managed to whisper.

Her gaze turned slightly stern as he got the message in them. We will talk later. Naruto resigned himself for the upcoming interrogation. Well at least it wasn't the cops. Suddenly another face came in front of him, holding a flashlight to his face. Naruto cringed but let the medic do his job as he checked his pupillary reflex.

"Are the others safe?" Naruto queried.

"Yes, we got them all out. How are you feeling?" Anko replied.

"Like a train wreck."

Anko managed a laugh at his wry tone.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Naruto asked with some curiosity.

"Promised Ayame and Teuchi would look after you. Which reminds me call them the first chance you get. Ayame was pretty broken down about the whole affair. Kept saying it was her fault."

"Why would any of this be her fault?" Naruto said genuinely perplexed.

"Something about you not wanting to go and she forcing you to." Anko said in an offhand tone. "I for one am glad she did." She added in a low voice so that only he could hear.

Naruto was dying to know what happened. He did remember getting shot. Must have lost consciousness after that. They couldn't discuss what had happened with so many people around.

"So can I go home?" He addressed the medic.

"Not yet. We would like to keep you under observation for the night." The medic, a young man in his mid-twenties replied.

Naruto groaned at hearing this. It couldn't be helped. He did the only thing he could and closed his eyes.

* * *

"So how do you feel about your ordeal?"

"I am not sure... Angry I suppose. Scared too. I mean sometimes I ask why me? But then I remember that I am alive and so are my friends. That's something to be thankful for."

Following this response the school counselor took some notes. It was Monday morning. A regular school day. Tsunade had gotten the brilliant idea to get everyone involve in the hostage situation a psych evaluation. His stay at the hospital during the weekend was mostly uneventful, except when Ayame and Teuchi came to pick him up, and Ayame having a minor breakdown. It took some effort to calm her down and 15 minutes of Naruto convincing her that he didn't blame her for what he had to go through. Teuchi had given even offered to give him the rest of the week off.

"If it's all the same to you I would rather show up for work Teuchi-san." He remembered telling him. Teuchi hadn't argued with him after that, though Ayame looked like she wanted to protest. Over the last few weeks she had gained a fondness for Naruto. Naruto not used to such affections was unsure how to react to her. Eventually he had agreed to take 3 days off to "Recover".

So far he hadn't had the opportunity to talk to Anko. A fact he was thankful for. A part of him was curious as to who shot him. But the questions that were sure to follow made him thankful for the reprieve short though it definitely was. He hadn't seen Kiba, Ino or Sakura either for that matter. It couldn't have been easy for them, and he just hoped. He hadn't seen them in school yet. But then he was ambushed as soon as he entered the campus by Tsunade and escorted to 'A professional who could help him.' And so right now he was answering questions of a stranger trying to sound like a traumatized teenager. The counselor a bespectacled lady in her mid-thirties, dressed in a black dress suit looking every bit professional.

"You have a very pragmatic and mature attitude to the situation Uzumaki-san." She said crossing her legs.

"Well the situation could have been worse." Naruto responded to her observation. "And moreover I was never one of the hostages. I had managed to hide myself from the terrorists."

"But you were the only one who was injured." There it came. It had come up with the police too. They were rather interested in how he had managed to evade the terrorists. To which he had replied that he had managed to hide himself inside one of the pedestals which he had discovered to be hollow. He was interrogated by Anko, who had refrained from asking any awkward questions. He still wasn't sure why she was helping him, maybe because he had decided to trust her, maybe because she thought he had answers to her questions. As for the injury he told the counselor what he told the cops.

"That was because of my clumsiness. Fell down the stairs while making my way out." He said faking an embarrassed grin while scratching the back of his head. She kept taking notes for a few minutes.

"So can I leave? I am late for class as it is."

"Yes, of course Uzumaki-san. Just one more question." Naruto nodded. "How are you sleeping?"

This caused Naruto to pause for a moment.

"No worse than usual." Naruto answered honestly.

The counselor stared at him for a while before saying "You may leave Uzumaki-san."

Naruto picked up his bag and walked out of the counselor's office. He found Kiba waiting outside, exchanging a nod of greeting as he left.

* * *

"Did you check out the counselor. Man she was hot!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Sure Kiba. But don't you think there is something wrong thinking that way about a lady who is your mom's age?" Naruto said in an exasperated tone.

"Bah! Beauty is beauty man! They come in all ages." Kiba countered.

It was lunch time. Naruto had taken his normal seat in the cafeteria and before long was joined by the usual gang except Sakura who had decided to skip school today. Somehow the conversation had drifted to their counselor and her assets. Naruto didn't blame him. It was Kiba's coping mechanism after all. Focusing on her beauty helped take his mind off the ordeal and Naruto played along for his friend's sake. The other's too refrained from questioning them giving them their space.

"Don't bother Naruto. He is hopeless." Ino said rolling her eyes.

It didn't help that riling Kiba up was Ino's coping mechanism.

"No one asked for your opinion you blonde bimbo." Kiba snarled.

"What was that dog-breath?" Ino jumped up, fists clenched, eyes flashing.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru observed.

Seeing the situation getting out of hand Naruto decided to provide a diversion.

"Well basketball season's coming up. The team looks good."

It was the right thing to do as Ino slumped back into her seat. Her boyfriend was in the team after all.

"Yeah Gai-sensei really put them through the paces. The trophy is ours this time." Kiba punched his fist in the air.

"Yeah Takeshi kun is throwing a victory-party after the first game." Ino quipped.

"Great, another one we wouldn't be invited to." Kiba grumbled. It was true. The party was exclusively for the seniors the members of the different sport's club, the cheerleaders and the girlfriends of the said members.

"A little premature don't you think?" Shino said joining the conversation.

"We will wipe the floor with them, just you see." Kiba assured Shino. "The team has never looked this good. Though it would have looked better if someone was in it." He said shooting a sideways glare at Naruto, which he ignored. But before anyone could say anything else Naruto had grabbed his chocolate milk and started walking away.

"Well lunch is almost over. Don't wanna be late for Gai's class." He shot at his classmates.

"Bastard sure isn't subtle dodging conversation. Since when has he been eager to get to Gai's class." Kiba muttered." Anyway guys let's go. Its dodge ball today." He ignored the groans from his friends.

* * *

Long day. Naruto thought unlocking his apartment. Kiba was particularly vicious during dodge ball. Dropping his bag he prepared to go to work, when he remembered he had 3 days off. He was considering going out for a run, when someone knocked his door.

He had barely unlocked his door when a purple flash made its way inside.

"So what's up brat?" Anko smirked. Grin in place, dressed in her usual khaki attire.

"Come on in." Naruto retorted sarcastically seeing Anko already making her way to the fridge.

"Water and milk? That's it? Come on kid where is the good stuff?" Anko addressed Naruto, hands on hips.

Naruto rolled his eyes at his neighbor's behavior.

"Why are you here Anko?" Naruto asked his tone turning serious, indicating he wasn't in a joking mood.

Reading the mood Anko replied. "We need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you." Naruto said making his way out of the apartment.

Anko knew she was walking on thin ice. If she didn't play this right he would never open up to her.

"Come on kid. Just need to talk to you. You may shut me out later if that's what you want. Just listen to what I have to say first." Anko tried to convince him. She had to try the painless way. She could go Rambo on him, but she had a feeling that wouldn't work with him and she would only drive him away. She would take this slow, if that's what it took.

Naruto paused hearing the hint of desperation in his voice.

"I will make ramen. Brought some with me." She sweetened the deal.

10 minutes later they were sitting diametrically opposite each other in his kitchen/hall, slurping on noodles and broth.

"So what do you want to talk about Anko?" Naruto said the silence finally getting to him.

"Aren't you curious about who shot you? If it wasn't for the body armor we would have been picking your intestines from the floor." Anko said raising her eyebrow at the kid in front of her.

"It was the Chief of Security Akisame I believe?" Naruto said nonchalantly.

Anko froze. The chopsticks didn't seem to be able to make way to her mouth.

Seeing her Naruto shrugged. "Wasn't that hard to figure out. I had accounted for every terrorist. I just let my guard down. Later when I had time to think about it, I knew it had to be him. How else would they have gotten the weapons in, which I am guessing they got in along with the caches of artifacts? You have him in custody I suppose."

Anko replaced the chopsticks in her bowl.

"If by custody you mean in the mortuary with his brain shot out, then yes we have him in our custody. Seriously kid, who are you?"Anko said in an awed voice.

Naruto put his own chopsticks down looked Anko directly in the eye.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Naruto answered his tone careless as ever.

"Try me." Anko countered.

"Well then I hope you are ready for disappointment, Because I...dont know."

**Well another one done. Its sort of a cliffhanger. But let's face it, its not as bad as the last one. Also I have been updating frequently, so that makes up for it. So keep your eyes open for more, and like I have said before. The frequency of the updates will depend on the response my story gets.**


	8. Answers?

**A/n:- Well this chapter took some time. I have answered a few questions with this chapter while opening the gates for more speculation at the same time. The story will pick up pace after this soon and the pieces will be falling into place. Though keep in mind this will be novel length and the plot line will be getting intricate. Anyway enjoy.**

**Chapter 8:- Answers?**

Anko glared at him. She was trying. She really was. But the last statement was really pushing it. Her eyes narrowed, and her grip on the chopsticks tightened but before she could say anything, Naruto was already continuing.

"At least not in the way you are hoping."

"What do you mean?" Anko's curiosity getting better of her irritation with the blonde. Naruto regarded her silently for a while seemingly weighing his words. He knew everything would change after this.

"Look I can't really explain it. I don't know where I came from. Even my name is something which was made up." Seeing her expression darken he continued hastily."I can run a mile flat out in under 4 minutes. I have varying degree of proficiency with every kind of firearm ever created. I can kill a person 30 different just using my hands if they are anywhere within 5 yards of me. When I enter a building the first thing I look for is an exit, followed closely by the security of the place and ways to infiltrate." Anko raised an eyebrow not sure where he was going with this, but he continued nevertheless. "One look at you tells me you are 5'6, 115 pounds and you can more than handle yourself in a fight. Your favoured firearm is the Glock-22 you have holstered under your jacket. You are something of an interrogation specialist. You have trust and abandonment issues probably because of something that happened to you during your past, most probably your childhood. I can tell you all that and more but I don't know who I am. All I know is that those are things I am not meant to know. Probably the only thing keeping me alive and sane is...my ignorance."

"You have amnesia?" Anko ignored the quip about her having issues. She had bigger problems at the moment as her lead to Iruka was proving to be useless.

"No. Its not. Its more like my memories have been suppressed."

"Don't you want to know who you were? Where you came from?" Anko was getting even more mystified.

Naruto shrugged. "You saw what I did to those terrorists. What 14 year old can do that? Maybe there is a reason my memories were suppressed. And whoever did it left me with enough awareness to not go digging. Does that answer your question?"

Anko could see where he was coming from. He was trying to protect himself from his past, even though he didn't know what his past was. Her suspicions were now taking a definite shape.

"Do you remember anything?" Anko persisted.

Naruto unfolded his legs and released a deep breath. "I have memories of Iruka. I remember his kindness. I have dreams too which I think are memories. But nothing concrete." He did remember one other thing. But he wanted to keep that to himself. Even now he wasn't sure why he had retained that bit of memory.

"What was your relationship with Iruka?" Anko asked, anger all forgotten, as she tried to figure out this enigma.

"I don't know. Like I said I remember him, but I don't know what he was helping me do."

Something clicked in Anko's mind.

"He was a psychologist. Maybe he was helping you cope with whatever you had to deal with." She offered.

"That was probably it." Naruto wasn't totally convinced. But then he wasn't curious and if this explanation got her off his back he wouldn't argue.

Anko was getting more and more frustrated. She had come for answers and all she was getting were more questions. Why would Iruka be working with someone like Naruto? How can Naruto do the things he did? Why and how was his memory suppressed? Was it to protect him or was it to protect the secrets he seemed to carry? She wasn't even sure if Naruto was lying. But she was giving him the benefit of doubt... for now.

"Why are you so adamant about this?" Naruto asked her snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Why did you help those people? You put yourself at risk for strangers." She countered.

Naruto was stumped for a moment. "Those people didn't deserve to die." He finally managed.

"Neither did Iruka and he was a friend." Anko shot back.

"No he didn't. But he is dead now. You can't do anything to bring him back."

Anko carried her own bowl and put it in the sink. " We grew up together." Naruto had been honest with her and she wanted to connect with him, hence she decided to explain why this was important to her. "He had a murky past, not unlike my own. Orphans rarely have any other kind. But we got out of it before it was too late. He went to university got a degree in psychology and was working on some sort of thesis. That was 5 years ago. We lost touch after that." Anko paused here, making her way back to her chair, her lips trembling and eyes becoming more fluid. "We met again 2 years ago. He was different. He looked as if he was struggling with something. The carefree Iruka I knew now looked like a man who was weighed down by the world on his shoulders, he tried to hide it but I knew better. In all the time I knew Iruka I had never seen him so helpless. Then he disappeared again. The next thing I know he met with an accident a couple of months ago and you turn up claiming to know him."

They stared at each other in silence for a while. Before Naruto finally spoke up.

"So what now?"

"Now I am going to dig deeper. Find out how deep the rabbit hole goes." She sat up and made her way out of the apartment. However before she was out of the door Naruto gave her a final warning.

"I hope you wouldn't do that Anko san."

Anko paused for a moment. "Why? Because I won't be able to handle it?" Her tone was rhetoric and she expected Naruto to take it as such. She was however surprised to see the look on his face starting to resemble pity.

"If you make it far enough to figure everything out." Naruto walked off his chair to stand by the door. "You might discover the hole you have mistaken as that of a rabbit's is actually a pit of snakes."

The door closed behind her back.

* * *

Anko walked inside her apartment. The talk with Naruto had revealed a lot more than it had hidden. She hadn't made as much progress as she had hoped. But she still had more than she had before. Before she had pegged Naruto as an orphan who had simply come in contact with Iruka, and someone he had related to and taken care of. But now she was sure it was more than that. Naruto wasn't someone Iruka knew just personally but also professionally.

She walked to her wardrobe. Taking off her jacket she placed it on a hanger. Pausing for a moment as if trying to make up her mind. She bent down to and pulled open a drawer. It was empty. Working her fingers into the floor of the compartment, she pried it off. The compartment revealed a box. Peeling off the cover of the box revealed a dozen or so files. Flipping her fingers working her way through the files she paused somewhere near the end of the pile. Pulling it out, she studied the label.

_Interpol __case no. 8951 report:-_

Flipping open the file she saw the report consisting of barely 3 lines which she had learnt by heart.

___Date 3rd June 2011_

___The victim Iruka Umino was found dead in his car a few miles away from his home in Inagi. The victim had shattered ribs, few of which had punctured his lungs. Apart from this he also suffered from severe head trauma. Post-mortem report show that the victim had hemorrhaged. Preliminary investigations show the death was an accident. The victim was working on a thesis for his psychology degree in the Tokyo University.  
_

Anko ran her eyes over the report again, before they paused at the post-script at the end of the report.

___Note:- The victim was an informer in an ongoing investigation. The details of which are classified. Hence the interest of Interpol in this case._

Replacing the file back in she closed her wardrobe. She had linked the first piece of the puzzle.

Kiba dodged the first guy. Moving fast he slipped past two others. Seeing the target within reach he got in position to take the shot. He would show them. He aimed and he shot. The projectile was barely halfway through the air before it was intercepted by another. Not again. Kiba groaned in defeat as he collapsed on the basketball court. These guys were too good. Placing his palms on his eyes he wallowed in his misery for a while. There were girls too who had witnessed it.

"It was a good game Kiba-kun. The flames of your youth were indeed magnificent." Came the voice of Lee, from somewhere above him. Opening his eyes he saw Lee offering him his hand.

Kiba took the offered arm and pulled himself up.

"But I don't seem to get any better." He grumbled. Lee smiled at this. Kiba had joined the basketball team for a game as they were short a player to make 2 teams. What Kiba hoped would be a display of his awesomeness soon degraded into a lesson in humility as all the players left him in the dust.

"You have improved Kiba-kun, but those guys have trained harder and are more in tune with each other. More than the fact they are better than you its more because they know how to play as a team." Lee explained falling in step with Kiba.

"So you mean I am as good as them." Kiba said hopefully.

"Not quite. But you will be Kiba-kun. But the reason they are so good is because of their teamwork. There is a reason there are 6 players in a team you know."

Kiba grunted.

"Anyway I will see you later." Kiba ran off grabbing his gym bag from the court on the way.

"You were good out there." Another voice greeted him.

"Come on Naruto I was destroyed out there." Kiba protested.

Naruto smirked joining his friend.

"That's because you keep rushing in without thinking. And then you pause too much to think." Naruto observed.

Kiba frowned. Naruto might be on to something and he was right.

"Look, your linear speed is almost as good as that of Lee and your dodging is definitely better. But you are predictable. You don't pass to your team and you can work more on your stamina." Naruto rattled on.

"Wait. You got all that by just watching me play right now?" Kiba stopped walking.

Naruto shrugged.

"Will you help me with my game?" He said a pleading note entering his voice.

"No way ask the coach." Naruto waved him off.

"Come on Naruto. I will owe you big time." He pestered.

"Nope." Naruto remained unmoved.

"I will do your chores for the week." Kiba offered causing Naruto to pause.

"2 weeks and you have a deal." Naruto countered.

"I think 10 days is more than fair." Kiba negotiated.

"Good two weeks it is." Naruto agreed.

"Fine." Kiba agreed shaking Naruto's hand sealing the deal.

Naruto waved Kiba off, walking away from him.

Kiba was feeling pretty pleased with himself. "...Bastard is a real piece of work."

* * *

Ino had a good day today. Sakura finally came to school today after 3 days. Though she still seemed slightly shaken by her ordeal but then so was she. She even got to bask in the concern of her boyfriend Takeshi, who had offered her a ride home after school, which she had politely declined. Her father would have an aneurysm if he saw her being dropped home by a 17 year old riding a bike. She was walking home when she saw the familiar blonde headed figure of Naruto walking along the same route as her.

"Hey Naruto wait up!" She hailed her newest friend.

Said person turned around to face her.

"Hey Ino, what's up?" Naruto greeted her politely.

Running up to him she fell in a step beside him.

"Oh nothing much had cheer leading practice after school so just making my way home. What about you? What got you so late?"

"Had a game with the guys." Naruto replied.

"Oh yeah! Kiba keeps saying you are good enough to be on the team." Ino quipped brightly.

Naruto chuckled lightly. "Yeah he does."

"So why don't you?" Ino quizzed him.

"Not you too?" Naruto exclaimed in a fake exasperated tone. "Kiba gives me enough crap about it."

Ino laughed at his reaction.

"No, really why don't you join the team? I would even give you a personal cheer if you enter." Ino smiled salaciously at him.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as if considering the offer.

"I would, but I have too much work at the moment. Maybe next year. How is your practice going anyway?" Naruto said deflecting the conversation.

"Oh its going great. We were working on a new cheer today." Ino said excitedly

"Any chance I get to see it."

"Come at the game tiger."

They walked in companionable silence for a while.

"So how are you dealing with it?" Ino spoke up unexpectedly.

Naruto knew what she was talking about.

"I am dealing with it okay." Naruto answered back "What about you?"

"The new counselor really helped. Plus my parents have been with me."Ino started rubbing her arms unconsciously.

"Yeah she has." Naruto sighed.

"I still have nightmares about that day. If that man hadn't saved us when he did, I hate to even think what may have happened." Ino shivered at the memory.

"Yeah we caught a lucky break." He agreed.

They had arrived outside Ino's apartment.

"Anyway this is it. See you at school Naruto." Ino called out.

Naruto was in the process of waving when the door to Ino's apartment opened and revealed a tall blonde haired man dressed in a white shirt and black trousers.

"Hey dad!" Ino greeted her father.

The man studied his daughter and then the boy she was with before ushering her daughter in.

"Who is your friend Ino?" He asked her.

"That's Naruto dad, my classmate." Ino answered him.

"Interrogating your daughter now are we Inoichi?" A deep voice cut into the conversation.

The source of the voice turned out to be a scarred man in a black trench coat in the process of walking out of Ino's house.. Even though Naruto had only caught a glimpse of the man last time. He knew he was faced with Morino Ibiki. The Superintendent of Akiruno police department.

**Well there you go folks. Another one bites the dust. Don't forget to drop a line.**


	9. Brewing storm

**A/N:- Well guys here you go with the next chapter. Someone posted the question about pairing. Well there might be one. Not sure at the moment though. Any pairing in this story will be relevant to the plot, so I might work on that. **

**To Iamnarutofan2200:- all your questions will be answered in due time. If I answered ur questions now I would be giving up a lot of surprises. Rest assured. Thanks to Rhonkar and the guest reviews are appreciated as well. I will be going off in a tangent of sorts. It will allow the readers to explore Naruto's character a bit more while allowing me to work with his interactions. Anyways enjoy. **

**Chapter 9:- Brewing storm**

Great. Naruto thought. Ibiki was someone he wanted to avoid. Him being Anko's superior only made him more wary of the man and what's worse he seems to be friends with Ino's father.

"I don't know what you are talking about Ibiki." Inoichi quipped at Ibiki's comment.

"Come on Inoichi I know you better than that. I know an interrogator's vibe when I see it." Ibiki made his way out of the house. "How are you doing Ino?"

"I am fine uncle. How have you been? Its been a long time since you visited." Ino pouted.

Ibiki chuckled walking upto her ran his hand through Ino's hair. "I am not staying long today either hime. Lot of work to do. But I will drop by soon. I see you are a cheerleader now."

Ino smiled proudly. "Yes, I joined this year. I have been told I am talented enough to be the head cheerleader by my senior year."

"That's great hime." Finally fixing his gaze to Naruto. "You must be in the same class as Ino."

Naruto knew where this was going. Part of him had hoped that he would be ignored, no such luck.

"Naruto Uzumaki is my name Ibiki-san."

"You don't look Japanese." Ibiki said raising an eyebrow.

"I get that a lot." Naruto replied.

"I would expect you do." Ibiki gave another chuckle. "Anyway, I had a few more questions for you. So if you can come down by the station."

"I am not sure. I am really busy at the moment." Naruto didn't like where this was going.

"Well maybe I will drop by sometime at your place. That's not a problem...is it?" The last part of the sentence held a somewhat sinister edge.

Naruto narrowed his eyes for a moment. "I have already given my statement officer. I don't know what else I can add to it."

"Well then don't think of it as giving a statement. I just want your perspective." Ibiki's tone implied that he didn't have a choice.

Before Naruto could reply he was interrupted by a feminine voice.

"Who is being an interrogator now Ibiki?"

Ibiki shrugged. Naruto saw they were joined by a dark-haired woman standing next to Inoichi. Dressed in a skirt with an apron she looked the perfect housewife. Naruto inferred her to be Ino's mother.

"Why don't you invite your friend inside for dinner Ino?" The woman addressed her daughter.

Before Ino who had been watching the interaction between Ibiki and Naruto with something akin to fascination could repeat her mother's request Naruto was already trying to talk his way out of it.

"I wouldn't want to impose Yamanaka-san."

"Nonsense. We would love to have you. Won't we Inoichi?" She said giving her husband a glare.

Inoichi withered visibly.

"Hope you like sushi." Inoichi deadpanned.

"Yes, Naruto come on in. Kaa-san is an amazing cook." Ino contributed her two cents.

"Are you sure you can't stay for dinner Ibiki?" Mrs. Yamanaka addressed Ibiki.

"Sorry Miho-chan. Got lots of work to do. Maybe next time." Giving one final wave of farewell, Ibiki walked away.

"Come in Naruto-kun. Wash up and I will set a plate for you."

Not really seeing a choice in the matter Naruto complied.

Naruto studied his features in the bathroom mirror of the Yamankas. His eyes still had dark circles under them indicating his lack of sleep. The dinner wasn't something he was looking forward to. But he really had been backed into a corner.

"Are you okay in there Naruto?" Ino's voice floated from outside.

Naruto walked out, and was promptly handed a towel by Ino.

"Thanks." Naruto said accepting the towel.

"Don't worry about my dad. He is just playing the protective father card." Ino assured Naruto.

"That's okay." Naruto handed the towel back to Ino.

Throwing the towel into a hamper Ino grabbed Naruto's arm.

"Come, I will show you my room. Dinner will take some time."

Naruto allowed himself to be dragged to her room. The room was definitely painted to suit a girl's tastes. The walls were painted purple. It consisted of a bed with cream colored sheets. Quite a few stuffed toys took residence on her bed. A computer system gracing the table with a chair.

"So what do you think?" Ino twirled demonstrating her room.

"It certainly is yours." Naruto wasn't sure what else to say.

"Isn't it?" Ino drawled. After which she went on chattering. Naruto found it fascinating how Ino never ran out of things to talk about.

"So your dad knows Ibiki-san." Naruto queried. As long as he was here might as well gather some intel. Never know what might come handy.

"Dad used to be a cop. He was Ibiki-san's direct superior." Ino paused for a moment as if remembering something unpleasant. "Then he got injured in the line of duty and took an early retirement." Her features softened as she continued. "Mom sure was glad when that happened. Though Ibiki-san still drops by to take dad's take on a few things."

Naruto nodded. Processing what Ino told her.

* * *

"He seems like a nice young man." Miho said, dicing the vegetables for the salad.

"I don't trust him." Inoichi was in the process of retrieving the chicken from the oven.

"You don't trust any boy." She slapped his arm gently. "Play nice." She warned him.

His wife was right. He didn't trust anyone with his daughter, especially a boy,even more so a boy his wife deemed cute. But there was more to it than that with this particular boy. He knew he was one of the students involved in that hostage situation. He had somehow managed to evade trained mercenaries for hours. Something didn't sit right with him about that. As a former interrogation specialist he could build a profile for most people at a single glance. But this boy baffled him. He seemed friendly and polite. But something about him was just evasive. He had come across men who gave that vibe during his time as a cop. It usually took days sometimes weeks to break them. Part of him was tempted to break out the interrogation tools on the boy and see what made him tick. Okay maybe he was exaggerating, but he still didn't like the boy.

* * *

They were sitting at the table enjoying a quiet and a somewhat awkward dinner with Inoichi glaring at Naruto and his wife glaring at him when she caught him at it. Most of the conversation was supplied by Ino as she chattered on about cheerleading practice.

"You have a lovely home Yamanaka-san." Naruto felt the need to supply something to the conversation.

"Why thank you Naruto. Would you like some more rice?"

"Yes, please."

"So Naruto. Ino tells me you are a good basketball player." Inoichi joined in.

"That is a bit of an exaggeration." Naruto replied.

"Good looking and modest I like him Ino." Miho winked at her daughter.

"Mom!" Ino blushed a bright red. Naruto fought down a blush of his own. Inoichi choked on the water he was in the process of drinking.

"You guys are too easy." Miho laughed.

"So what are your plans after you finish school Naruto?" Inoichi said before things went too far. He loved his wife but she had a prankster's streak a mile wide in her which revealed itself at the most inappropriate times.

"I am keeping my options open for now Yamanaka-san." Naruto answered.

"There must be something you enjoy doing though." Inoichi persisted.

Naruto narrowed his eyes imperceptibly. It seemed that Inoichi was trying to get a read on him, well good luck with that.

"I like gardening."

"..."

The statement was followed by a pin-drop silence, before everyone except Naruto broke into laughter.

"I heard you work with the Ichiraku's?"Miho continued the conversation once everyone had recovered.

* * *

Naruto was in the process of putting his shoes on while Ino looked on.

"Sorry about my parents. They likes to mess with people."

"That's okay. They are pretty cool." Naruto reassured her. Ino remembered with a pang that Naruto didn't have a family. "I will see you at school tomorrow then?"

"Yeah sure. Mind if I walk you out." Ino said nervously. Naruto didn't see a problem with it.

"Yeah sure. Is your father going to be okay with it?"

"Mom, dad I am gonna see Naruto out." Ino screamed causing Naruto to wince slightly. "Okay let's go."

They walked in silence for a while, before Naruto decided to start another conversation.

"So, what are your plans after school?"

"I wanna be a model." Ino replied.

Naruto raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"What? I am certainly pretty enough." She said daring him to challenge her statement.

"Well you are. But for some reason... nope don't see it happening." Naruto smirked.

"Well I don't see you becoming a gardener either." She snapped back.

"I didn't say I want to be a gardener. Your dad asked me what I enjoyed doing and gardening was the first thing that came to my mind." Actually Naruto had observed Inoichi's garden and judging by the state of the knees of his pants he had deduced that Inoichi was something of a gardener himself, hence his reply.

Ino chuckled at this. "Yeah sorry about that. He gets like that sometimes."

"Its cool."

They walked some more in silence.

"Okay I will tell you if you promise not to laugh." Ino conceded.

"I promise I won't laugh." Naruto said solemnly.

"I want to be a cop." She said rapidly.

"That's cool."

"Yeah that's what I thought you would say...wait...you aren't laughing?" Ino looked bewildered.

"Why would I laugh? Plus I think you will look hot with a gun."

This earned him a slap on the arm and a laugh from Ino.

"Well I think you should go home now Ino, before your dad busts out a gun to shoot me."

"He is not that bad." Ino defended her father.

"Good night Ino." Naruto fired back before jogging back to his place.

Naruto. Ino thought. What an interesting guy.

* * *

"Come on guys we are getting killed out there. Lee substitute for Gin." Gai yelled.

"Yes, coach."

It was the first match of the tournament. After squandering a good start where Akiruno high was leading 16-7 after the first quarter to 20-28 nearing the end of the 3rd.

Kiba was nervously chewing his nails. Due to a couple of injuries during training he had been inducted as a reserve player for the team.

"Do you think we can win." He addressed Naruto nervously.

Naruto was handing out water to the players.

"Who knows. The momentum seems to be with Suna though." Naruto shrugged.

The whistle blew indicating the end of another quarter. The score now read 20-30. The captain of Suna managing to get a shot in just before the end of the quarter. The cheerleaders from both schools led another round of cheer. Ino managed a wave at Naruto in the middle of her routine. Naruto was obliged to wave back.

"You sure have been busy." Wafted a familiar voice from somewhere above Naruto. He looked up to stare into the brown orbs of Temari.

"Hey Temari-san. Why aren't you with your friends?" Naruto asked puzzled.

"I am offended Naruto-san. I thought we were friends." Temari said with a mock-hurt look.

Naruto sighed. He should have seen this coming.

"Relax I am kidding." She bumped shoulders with Naruto.

"Did you come here to gloat?" Kiba snarled.

"What's your problem?" Temari said slightly bewildered at Kiba's attitude.

Before Kiba could reply, Naruto slapped him in the head. Kiba directed his glare at Naruto.

"Stop being a jerk Kiba."

Kiba scowled but kept his peace.

"So you fond of basketball?" Naruto enquired politely.

"Not really. But my brother is in the team. So came to support him." Temari shrugged.

"He seems to be doing well."

"Yeah he is. Anyway break is over. See you later Naruto." Temari waved before walking back to her friends.

"What was that all about?" Kiba snarled.

"Well she was quite friendly during the trip. Guess she just came to say hello. Speaking of which why were you being such a jerk to her?"

"That was me helping you? You can thank me later." Kiba replied casually.

Naruto stared at him. "How was you being a jerk helping me?"

"She likes you man. By giving you the opportunity to stand up for her I just increased your chances." Kiba explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You are weird man." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Kiba you're up." Gai barked.

"Me?" Kiba was confused for a while.

"No, I meant my sister who happens to have the same name as you. Of course you. Now get yourself into the court." Gai snarled. Good guy he might be. But in a pressure game, he turned into a dictator.

Kiba stumbled his way into the court.

* * *

"Come on Naruto the victory party is gonna be awesome. You have to be there." Kiba pleaded.

"Sorry but I have work today. I have slacked off enough as it is." Naruto explained.

"But I was the hero of the match and its all thanks to your help with my training.. The least I can do is invite you to the party. Come on Ino and Sakura would be there too." He tried to convince Naruto.

"No, the least you can do is get my groceries tomorrow, followed by doing the laundry. I have a big pile." Naruto smirked at Kiba's expression. The inclusion of Kiba had turned the match around. He score 6 points and had 4 assists, which led to Akiruno High's first victory of the season.

"You are an ass sometimes you know that." Kiba said good naturedly.

"Have fun at the party Kiba." Naruto waved before making his way inside Ichiraku's.

"Welcome back Naruto. Busy day today, grab an apron and get serving." Ayame smiled at him.

"Yes, ma'am." Naruto mumbled.

* * *

"So why didn't you go to the party? Sounded like fun." The night shift had ended. Naruto was in the process of wearing his shoes, while Ayame carried on a conversation while doing the dishes.

"Didn't want to go. Parties aren't really my thing."

Ayame stared at him for a full minute before shaking her head.

"You are the only teenager I know who would rather work than party on a weekend. Sometimes I really worry about you." Ayame went back to the dishes.

"Watching a bunch of older teens hazing on the younger ones isn't my preferred way of spending a weekend." Naruto commented.

"Well, considering you are one of the younger teens I see your point." Ayame conceded.

"See you later Ayame-nee, Teuchi-san."

"Good night Naruto."

* * *

It was 10:30 by the time Naruto made it home. Washing up after a quick dinner, Naruto made it to his bed. His watch read 11:15. His head hit the bed. Another eventful day. It would be an hour at least before he got to sleep.

naruto snapped his eyes open wondering what woke him up. The reason became clear a few seconds later as he palmed his vibrating phone. The time was 1:15 AM and the caller id displayed Ino's name. Groaning in annoyance he received the call.

"Hello."

"Oh my god Naruto. Its been horrible." Came the frantic cries of Ino over the phone.

"Calm down Ino, what's the matter?" Naruto snapped.

"Its Kiba." Ino managed after a while. The next words froze Naruto. "He had to be taken to the hospital."

**Well another cliffhanger of sorts. Don't forget to drop a line.**


	10. Chimera arc chapter 1

**A/N: Well guys here is the new chapter. I am done with the introductory arc. For now am gonna focus on Naruto's skills and his life as a normal student. This is in answer to one of the questions which was posed in one of the reviews. Another thing which I had failed to address was, yes my Naruto is sort of inspired by the Bourne series. Enjoy!**

**Chimera Arc- Chapter 1**

Naruto jumped off the bed before slipping on some clothes. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Something had happened to get Kiba hospitalized. Ino sounded so panicky. 30 seconds later he was out of his apartment and already making his way to the hospital. He considered using public transportation but decided to run. He would get faster that way anyway. It took him 10 minutes to reach the hospital. Pushing the door to the reception he walked in.

"How may I help you?" The receptionist inquired looking up towards Naruto disregarding his dismal appearance. He put on the first things he could get his hands on, blue slacks with an orange t-shirt under a full-sleeved gray jacket. His hair was a mess too.

"I am here to visit a friend of mine. Kiba Inuzuka." Naruto said.

The receptionist tapped a few keys on her computer. "He is in emergency, 3 halls down. You might have to wait in the waiting room. Please sign the visitor's log."

On hearing the words emergency Naruto froze. What had Kiba gotten himself into? Did he get into a fight? Naruto shook away his thoughts as he signed the visitor's book.

"Can you tell me what happened to him?" He asked handing the book back to the receptionist.

"Am not sure they rushed him into the emergency immediately. You might find out soon. Please wait in the visitor's room." Naruto nodded before following her instructions.

Ino dressed in a black skirt was pacing up and down the waiting room. Sakura was dressed in similar clothing except hers was red instead of black, sitting there her face resting in the palm of her hands. Takeshi, Ino's boyfriend and the point guard of the basketball team was leaning on the wall his eyes following Ino, his stance was too tense to be casual as he was trying to be. This was the scene Naruto walked into. He cleared his throat to get their attention causing all of their heads to snap to him.

"Naruto! Oh my god, How did you get here so fast." Ino rushed to Naruto.

"What happened?" Naruto posed the question to the room in general ignoring Ino's question.

"We aren't sure. He arrived at the party with the rest of the team, but we lost sight of him afterwards. Eventually Ino found him on the floor of my living room, frothing at the mouth." Takeshi answered Naruto's queries.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at this explanation. Something didn't sit right with it. The fact that Kiba was alone when Ino found him raised his red flags.

"What do you think it could have been?" Naruto decided to do this gently. Ranting at them won't get him any answers. But if he played his cards right he might get something. Sometimes lies reveal far more than the truth. Right now he was counting on some lies and he wasn't disappointed.

"May have been the alcohol. Who knows?" Takeshi shrugged. His expression was a careful mix of worry and confusion.

"You do know that under-age drinking is against the law right?" Naruto muttered under his breath with a hint of anger lacing his voice.

"I didn't force it on him Uzumaki. Don't stand there judging me. These parties are harmless fun." Takeshi was furious. It was the reaction Naruto was looking for. Unwittingly Takeshi had revealed that he knew what was wrong with Kiba.

"Calm down guys." It was Sakura this time. "You will get us kicked out otherwise." Takeshi held his glare for a while on Naruto, while Naruto looked away. He had gotten what he wanted, no need to antagonize him anymore.

Another distraction was provided as they heard shouting in the lobby.

"I want to know what's wrong with my son?" Definitely a woman's voice.

"Ma'am I need you to calm down. Your son is in good hands." A man's voice trying to reassure the woman. "Please I implore you to wait in the waiting room, we will have news for you soon."

"Come on mom. Let's go." Another voice joined the first two.

A few seconds later the doors to the waiting room burst open to admit a ferocious looking woman followed closely by her younger looking clone. Judging by their resemblance to Kiba he safely assumed them to be Kiba's mother and sister.

"What happened to my son?" Kiba's mother addressed Naruto.

"I don't know ma'am." Naruto managed backing away slightly from the woman. She was slightly delirious after all.

Realizing she wouldn't be getting any answers from him she turned to the rest of the room and started firing questions. Her daughter meanwhile held on to her stopping her from tearing them apart. After a while she calmed down enough to sit down and was fighting back tears.

"I am going to get some water for everyone. Mind helping me Takeshi?" Naruto said. Takeshi not seeing a way out of this decided to just go along with Naruto.

Making their way to the nearest cooler, Naruto started filling the cups.

"What are you doing here Takeshi?" Naruto decided to get a few more questions out of the way.

"What do you mean?" Takeshi said, his voice nonchalant.

"We both know you aren't fond of Kiba. So what brings you here?"

"Well, I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that my girlfriend is here or that as a member of the team he is my responsibility as well, now could it?" Takeshi managed his best sarcastic tone.

"Funny I don't see the rest of the supportive team." Naruto quipped in a sardonic tone. Without waiting for a reply Naruto handed a couple of cups to Takeshi and grabbed a couple himself before making his way back into the waiting room.

Seeing Naruto walk away like that was the last straw for Takeshi. He needed to show the kid his place. He held a half foot height advantage and outweighed him by 30 pounds at the very least, following on his thoughts he rushed Naruto from behind. But before he even reached him, Naruto had turned around and before he knew Takeshi was lying face down on the floor,his arm pinned behind his back. The water cups lay forgotten.

"You saw the woman in there Takeshi? Her son is in the emergency room fighting for his life. I don't know what happened to Kiba. Maybe you do. Maybe it wasn't your fault, but somewhere you are responsible. So help me out here." Naruto whispered in his ear, his tone surprisingly gentle.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Takeshi hissed back.

Naruto kept him in place for a few more seconds before letting him up. When Takeshi turned around to see him, he was surprised to see the look in Naruto's eyes. He was ready to see his usual cool nonchalance, he was even ready to see some anger, what he didn't expect was understanding.

"Is there a problem here?" A security guard doing his rounds came to see what the commotion was all about.

"No, its good." Takeshi replied.

Dusting his shirt Takeshi got up and walked away without so much as a backward glance.

* * *

Naruto handed out the cups of water to everyone. If anyone found the fact that Takeshi came in before Naruto no one questioned it. Kiba's mother accepted the glass wordlessly and sat listlessly nursing it.

"Thanks." Kiba's sister acknowledged, once being handed her glass. Naruto nodded.

"You must be Naruto. Kiba mentioned you. I am Hana." She offered her hand, Naruto shook it once before letting go, taking a seat next to her. Takeshi was now pointedly avoiding looking at him now.

"Good to finally meet you Hana-san."

"Do you know what happened?" She inquired.

"No, I don't. Was in bed when I got the call." Naruto shrugged. Hana bit her lip, trying to hold strong for her mother. But Naruto could see she was barely putting it together.

The doors to the waiting room opened admitting a doctor in blue overalls.

"Mrs. Inuzuka." He addressed. The woman looked up.

"We have given your son a sedative. He is holding stable for now. If you can join me, I have few questions for you." She nodded once before following the doctor. Hana joined her mother walking out of the waiting room. The doctor was immediately followed by Ino's and Sakura's fathers who quickly escorted them out.

Naruto himself got up and made his way out. Kiba had his family. For a moment Naruto wondered what it would be like to have people in his life who would care and worry for him. But he quashed those thoughts before they could house themselves in his head. Having people care about him won't end well.

* * *

"What kept you out at this time of the night?" Naruto cursed under his breath. He had to run into her, after having successfully avoided her all week.

"Just came back from a party Anko-san." He replied still in the process of unlocking his door.

"Really? In those clothes. Sometimes I wonder if you think I am an idiot." She seemed to be in the process of going out.

"It was a pajama party. What about you? Where you off to?" Naruto decided to change the subject.

"Duty calls kid. I really don't have the time to go interrogator on your ass. So consider this your lucky day." Anko said before walking away.

"Thankful for the small mercies." Naruto couldn't help himself.

Walking inside his apartment, he checked the time. The watch read 3:00 AM. Deciding to forego going to bed he dressed for his regular run and training session. Has to keep sharp. Something which had become a compulsion since his early days.

* * *

"Did you hear about Kiba?"

"You mean the kid who snatched us the victory against Suna?"

"Yeah, it seems that he is in the hospital."

It was the first day of school since the game on the weekend. Naruto tried to tune out the conversation. There was nothing to gain from them. Everyone was speculating as to what may have happened to the unlikely hero of the last game. The rumors circulating ran from, a case of alcohol poisoning during the party to Suna sabotaging the rising star of Akiruno.

But he knew exactly where he would get his answers. Takeshi. The direct approach hadn't worked maybe he would need to go covert on this one. He wanted to leave the things to the authorities, especially after the museum fiasco, he just wanted to lay low. He decided to keep his eyes and ears open just in case.

It was the usual routine during the lunch break. Except there was no Kiba to join him today. He ran his eyes through the cafeteria. His eyes rested on one Takeshi, who was sitting with his friends from the basketball team, though he wasn't contributing anything to the conversation. Ino was sitting next to him, with Sakura who seemed to have tagged along. There were a few cheerleaders who had joined them as well. Ino met his gaze, realizing he had been staring he made his way to an empty table.

Ino caught Naruto staring at her boyfriend, who averted his gaze as soon as it met hers. Ino sighed. She decided to go talk to him and excusing herself she made her way to Naruto's table.

"Hey Ino." Naruto greeted her without looking up from his plate.

"Hey Naruto, how are you doing?" Ino sat opposite him.

"Am good. What about you?"

Ino bit her lip nervously. Not sure how to breach the topic. In the few weeks she had known Naruto, he hardly ever started a conversation. He was friendly enough, but still seemed to hold everyone at a distance. He wasn't exactly shy either, was witty and a good sportsman to boot, but it always seemed that he was always holding himself back.

"Well, just worried about Kiba."

"Yeah, me too." Ino let go a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She had been worried about his reaction. But he only looked worried. Screwing up her courage she managed.

"Um...Naruto." This time Naruto stopped eating and looked up. "You don't have a problem with Takeshi do you?"

A look of genuine surprise ran across Naruto's face.

"What gave you that idea?" His voice held genuine surprise. Ino was almost fooled by it. Almost. Whatever problem Naruto had with Takeshi he didn't want to discuss it. So she persisted.

"Well he was always vocally against you joining the team and Kiba did get hurt at his party..."

"Listen Ino" Naruto interrupted her. "I have said it more than a few times that I am not interested in the team, as for Kiba, I really don't blame your boyfriend." His tone contained an air of finality. But now Ino was getting angry. At what she wasn't sure, but she was getting angry nevertheless.

"Well good, cause he isn't." She was now leaning towards him invading his personal space. Naruto calmly gazed at her face.

"You do know you are making a scene right?" Looking around Ino realized she was standing and people were beginning to stare at her now. "I meant what I said Ino. I don't blame Takeshi. Do you?" Ino's jaw dropped open, as Naruto walked away carrying his empty tray and dumped it in the trash bin.

"Was he bothering you?" Came the concerned voice of her boyfriend who had now joined her after witnessing the scene. Ino stared at him for a moment and repeated Naruto's question to herself. Did she blame him for Kiba? She decided not to answer that yet. After all they were yet to know what had happened to him.

"No, he wasn't."

* * *

School was over and Takeshi was in a hurry. It had all turned into a big mess. Now an innocent boy was fighting for his life, over carelessness which could have been easily avoided.

He maneuvered his car into a part of the town which was avoided by the respectable folks of the city. He knew he was walking into the lion's den, but he had no choice.

The streets were littered with garbage. Young men who looked like they were armed were staring at him impassively as he passed them. Bleary-eyed prostitutes were getting ready for their shift.

He stopped his car in front of a run-down bar. Two men who appeared to be bouncers gave him a nod, before letting him in. They gave the man entering after him a pat down, before allowing him in too.

Takeshi walked towards the bar, which had quite a few patrons. Finding who he was looking for, a man dressed in white slacks and black trousers he took the seat next to him.

"Well Takeshi, in a bit of a bother it seems." The man greeted him.

"What the hell Sato? What the hell was that?" Takeshi snarled at the man.

"Don't know what you are talking about." Sato shrugged. "Hey Zaki! get my friend a drink here." He addressed the bartender.

"I am not in the mood for games Sato." At this Sato's cheerful mood vanished. He turned his yellowish, brown eyes towards Takeshi.

"Not in the mood for games eh? You better watch your tone boy. You came to us for help, and which we were generous with, in return for your cooperation." Sato said in a tone bordering on threatening.

Takeshi visibly cowered.

"Its just that a boy is in the hospital because of the new batch. You told me the drugs were safe." Takeshi presented his case.

"Well, safe for us." Sato drawled.

"What do you mean?"

"It means my nervous friend, that the drugs can't be detected with any drug test in the market. So, you are safe. Now stop worrying." The bartender placed their drinks in front of them.

"Still a boy is dying because of those drugs." Takeshi was unable to keep the hint of panic out of his voice.

"Comes with the job my friend. Now drink up, calm your nerves." Sato urged. "Go home, get some sleep and let us deal with this." Takeshi nodded and after finishing his drink exited the bar, not even giving a second glance to the blue-eyed figure dressed as a street thug.

* * *

He was right. Takeshi knew what had happened to Kiba. Naruto had planned on following him after school. He had been a little worried when he got into his car. But he was able to keep him in sights by jumping across rooftops and the traffic which had hindered Takeshi's progress. When Takeshi made his way into the most rundown part of the town, which looked like a haven for gangsters and prostitutes, Naruto knew he had to come up with another plan. So he walked into a clothes store, and grabbed a few clothes which would help him blend in, not forgetting to grab a gray-cap to hide his hair.

Takeshi had then walked into a bar and engaged one of the customers in conversation. Naruto had followed closely behind. He was given a pat down and allowed to enter. Naruto would have tried to get close to listen to the conversation, but he scouted 3 men guarding Takeshi's contact. It wouldn't do to raise suspicion, so he took a table 15 feet from them and kept an eye on them. While the music in the bar hindered his efforts, his lip-reading skills served his purpose just as well. Once he found out what he needed to know, he had calmly walked out of the establishment. He needed to talk to Anko.

**Another one in the bag. Naruto's active again and he is ready to do what needs to be done, no matter the consequences. Drop a line. And before I forget thanks to all the reviewers**


	11. Chimera arc chapter 2 Dead Ends

**A/n:- Well guys here we go with the new chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed or favorited my story. You guys are the best.**

**Chimera Arc: Chapter 2 Dead ends**

Anko wasn't a paranoid person by nature. Even though she was a cop and paranoia came with the territory. During her career she had stepped on a few toes here and there, not to mention her not so reputable past. But finding your apartment unlocked would send anyone's alarm bells ringing. Pulling out her weapon, she pushed her door open quietly.

The living room lights were switched off. But someone was in the kitchen. Making her way as quietly as she could, she walked in weapon ready. Someone seemed to be going through her cabinets looking for something.

"Stop moving and put your hands where I can see them." Anko pointed her gun at the back of the perpetrator.

Surprisingly the figure didn't follow her commands, but casually ripped open a bag of chips, before munching on them.

"Funny way to greet old friends Anko-chan." Came the ironic tone of a somewhat forgotten voice.

"Yugao? Is that you?" Anko exclaimed.

The woman now identified as Yugao turned around, facing Anko, bag of chips still in hand. She was dressed in black jeans and a dark-green top. Her dark hair had a purple tinge to it.

"Can you put the gun away? You are making me nervous." Yugao walked casually across the kitchen as she opened more cabinets. "Where do you keep the sake?"

"Go get the glasses."Anko said putting away her weapon as requested. After the initial shock of seeing her friend in her house, she had shrugged it off.

Taking her seat in the dining table, Yugao nursed her glass.

"So how are things at Interpol?" Anko inquired.

"Kinda boring since you left." Yugao smirked, Anko was known to raise hell.

"So what brought you down?" Anko ignored the quip.

"Are you still looking into the death of your friend?" Yugao countered.

"What's it to you?" Anko kept her tone neutral, but the aggression brewing underneath could not be missed. They had gone through this before. The last time had caused a falling out between the once best friends.

Yugao sighed. Pouring herself another measure of sake.

"Look I know I was being a jerk last time, and one of the reasons I came here was to apologize."

Anko raised her eyebrows in surprise. Yugao was as stubborn as she was, and her apologizing wasn't something she expected.

"I wish I could take back what I said that day. But since I can't, I will just say that I am sorry." Yugao met her eyes.

Anko nodded once, all wasn't forgiven, but it was a start.

"So what are the other reasons you came here?" Anko decided to stop beating around the bush.

"Well, I looked into your friend's death." Anko raised an eyebrow at this. "Initially I suspected involvement of the Yakuza as I am sure you did too considering his background. But he had severed his ties years ago."

"So while they are known to hold grudges for a long time, I felt there was more to this."

Anko stared at her friend. Yugao had obviously come to the same conclusion she had.

"I don't think the Yakuza killed him." Yugao finally stated.

Anko raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"Anyway, I went to the University and talked to his professors, and tried to find out what his thesis was?" Yugao continued. "He was working on a way to deal with PTSD patients, mainly soldiers."

Anko leaned forward now her interest perked.

"Apparently he collected all his research and there doesn't seem to be even a scrap of whatever it was he was working on."

"What? How is that possible?" Anko exclaimed.

"That's what I asked myself and I managed to obtain permission to go through his stuff."

"And I am guessing you found nothing."

"Oh no! I did find something, but am not quite sure what I found." Yugao reached into her pocket and brought out what looked like a visiting card at first glance and tossed it to Anko. It was just a blank rectangular piece of paper, the kind used to make visiting cards alright. She flipped it over to what looked like an insignia of a leaf.

"What is this?" Anko asked puzzled.

"No one knows." Came Yugao's reply.

"Are you screwing with me?" Anko was getting furious now.

"No I am not. I looked up this symbol and no one knows what it means. At first I was about to overlook it, didn't seem important." Yugao tried to calm her friend down. "I decided to trace the paper on which it was printed on a whim and guess what I found."

Anko stared at her friend in anticipation.

"No existing printing press uses this kind of paper or the ink for that matter."

Now that was intriguing.

"So, you think this is related to Iruka's death?" Anko asked her friend.

"I don't know. Its just something my gut tells me is important." Yugao shrugged.

Anko seemed to be struggling with herself, but eventually gave in. She was alone and she could use some help even a different perspective would be welcome. She got up and fetched the file reporting Iruka's death, handing it to her friend.

Yugao looked puzzled before opening the file, and reading its contents, eyes widening slightly, as her eyes ran over the post-script.

"He was helping with an investigation?"

"Yes, and it was confidential."

"How did you get this?" Yugao demanded.

"Not easily." Anko answered.

"No, shit. You know how much trouble you can get in?" Part of Yugao was amazed and the other part worried at her friend's daring. If this got out, she would be seeing the inside of a solitary for the next 20 years of her life. "So did you find out who he was reporting to?"

Anko nodded as if acknowledging the heat she could have brought on herself.

"No. All my leads only led to dead ends."

"Anyway since then even I have hit a brick wall." Yugao concluded. But Anko hadn't. She still had a few leads going on. She could run this by Naruto, and see if he had anything to say about this.

* * *

Naruto steeled himself. He could share the info he had gathered with Anko and be done with it. She was a cop. She would know what to do. He didn't have to be anymore involved than he already was. Ringing the bell to her apartment he waited and began his usual countdown from 10. When the door didn't open after his usual count, he became a little apprehensive. Either she was asleep or she had guests. Before he could make up his mind the door opened to reveal a woman he didn't recognize.

What do we have here? Yugao thought. The boy in front of her couldn't have been more than 15. Dressed in what she guessed to be a school uniform, the boy was of average height, standing a few inches below her 5'6 frame. His blonde hair, blue eyes and Caucasian skin gave his looks a striking quality. If she didn't know better she would have thought he was Anko's new toy...or stalker...maybe both.

"Yes?" She addressed the boy.

"I was hoping to see Mitarashi-san." Naruto replied.

Of course he was. Though it didn't look like he wanted to be here. So, the boy-toy and stalker theory went out of the window, much to her relief. Maybe he just needed sugar for a dish his mother was making.

"Come in then, she is washing up at the moment, but she will be with you shortly." Yugao invited him in.

"Its okay. I will drop by later." Naruto was about to turn around.

"Why don't you come in? She is just washing up." She offered.

"Well... its nothing important." Naruto tried to think of an excuse to get out of this.

"Come on, I insist." Yugao's curiosity had perked up.

Naruto finally conceded. Just might as well.

Naruto walked in following the woman and took the sofa in the dining room.

"I am Yugao." She offered.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Well I am sure you get this a lot, but you don't look Japanese."

"You have no idea."

Thankfully at this point Anko entered the room, and her eyes widened in surprise, seeing her new guest.

"Naruto? This is a surprise."

"Well, we have a special buffet at Ichiraku's tonight and Teuchi-san asked me to invite you." Naruto casually told her.

Not bad kid. Anko was impressed.

"I will be there. By the way this is my neighbor Naruto, he lives down the hall." Anko replied playing along for now. Yugao watched the exchange with some amount of bemusement. "Would you like to come along Yugao-chan?"

"I would, but I have other plans." Yugao excused herself. Naruto almost sighed in relief. "Anyway, I will see you later Anko-chan."

Anko walked her to the door.

"What do you know of Kiba's case?" Naruto asked his neighbor once she got back.

"Kiba?" Anko was puzzled for a while, before she recalled. "Kiba Inuzuka. Lost consciousness during a rave. Suspected drug abuse? Narcotics was looking into the case. Why do you ask?"

"He is my classmate. And what do you mean by was looking into the case?" Naruto was mystified.

"Well test results were negative for any drug. So doesn't look like it was a police case to begin with." Anko took the seat opposite Naruto's, while his brows furrowed.

"Well Kiba was drugged." Naruto stated firmly.

"Didn't you hear what I said? The test results were negative." Anko rolled her eyes.

Naruto eyed the woman in front of her.

"Would you believe me if I said that these drugs have been engineered to beat the tests?"

"No, but I would definitely be asking you what have you been smoking."

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"What do you know about a bar named Blaze?"

"A bar downtown, a haven for addicts and dealers." Anko didn't like where this was heading. "How did you find that place?"

"I was following a lead. Look that's not important. I overheard this guy Sato talking about a drug in the streets which could undergo the scrutiny of the tests."

Sato. That name raised a few flags in Anko's head. He was an enforcer for a local drug lord. Maybe she should take him seriously. But still...

"What do you want me to do?" Anko asked.

"I don't know. You are the cop, isn't this your job?" Naruto managed his best sarcastic tone.

"Yes, but I don't work for narcotics. The minute I put forward this theory I will be laughed out of the department." Naruto didn't drop his gaze.

Anko sighed. "Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks. I am getting late for my shift." Naruto got up and made his way out.

"Wait." Anko said in a resigned tone stopping Naruto in his tracks. "Have some tea before you leave."

Naruto was puzzled but didn't question Anko, taking back his seat.

"Sugar?"

"One teaspoon."

A few minutes later Anko and Naruto were sipping on the beverage, an awkward silence enveloping them.

Finally Anko put her cup down.

"Look kid. I know you are upset about your friend." Naruto suppressed a scoff at this. "But like I said, we don't have anything to go through with this."

"I just gave you something." Naruto interrupted.

"What will I say when they ask me where I got this info from?" Anko continued.

Naruto hadn't thought about that. Why did this have to be so complicated? A part of him was glad that she was trying to protect him.

"So you can do nothing?" Naruto sighed.

"I didn't say that. But you have to give me some time kid. Just till I figure something out okay." Anko said in a placating tone. She knew what he was going through. She was going through the same thing. Crying wolf but no one willing to listen.

Naruto replaced his cup. "Thanks for the tea Anko."

"Don't do anything stupid kid." Anko made one last try.

* * *

Naruto plopped down on his bed. He had done what he had to. He had informed the proper authorities, Anko in this case. Now he could leave the rest to her. He had to lay low after all. As it was he had cut it real close with his last stunt with Zabuza. It was just Anko's willingness to keep his secret that had kept him out of the shit storm that was sure to follow.

But then the scarred visage of a kind faced man floated in front of him.

"Damn!" He muttered under his breath.

He got up from his bed, throwing away his clothes. There was work that needed to be done.

* * *

Yugao walked away from Anko's apartment. She had taken the first steps she needed to take towards a possible reconciliation. Considering the fact how they had left things last time, it was a positive start.

Making her way inside her hotel room, she flipped open her phone. It looked like a regular one, except for the fact that it was a secure phone.

She dialed the number. Not bothering to go through her call list. It was a precaution they took, or rather he took. The paranoia that came with the job sometimes really got to her, and he was even more paranoid.

the phone on the other end rang twice, before she got a reply.

"Yes." Came the deep gravelly voice from the other end.

"I have dropped the bait." Yugao said.

"Does she suspect anything?"

"No, I think I may even have gotten some of her trust."

"Good. Keep me posted." The line was cut.

Yugao walked into the bathroom. It had been a long day and she could use a shower. Getting rid of her t-shirt left her in her undergarments. Checking her well-built figure she couldn't help it. Her hand unconsciously went to her left upper forearm. Using her sharper than normal nails, she pried off what looked like skin from her arm, to reveal the tattoo of a leaf.

**Well another one done. Hope you guys enjoyed this. This arc won't take long. Maybe another couple of chapters. So don't worry too much about the cliffhangers.**


	12. Chimera arc chapter 3 Musings

**A/N:- One review? Really? Come on guys. Gimme something to work with here. I would even welcome flames at this point. But never mind. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chimera arc Chapter 3 Musings**

"... and so we have the value of x!"

It was a monday morning. A week since the party and Kiba's hospitalization. Kiba had recovered, but the doctors were still keeping him there for observation. She hadn't had the time to visit him yet, as it is she was grounded.

The teacher kept droning about algebra, and Ino's mind kept tuning her out. She was trying. She really was. But her mind kept drifting to all the events that had transpired this past week.

The doctors still aren't sure what was wrong with Kiba. The fact that he had survived his ordeal the only positive thing which had come out of this mess. The past week had been hard on her relationship with Takeshi. Her uneasiness about him had only increased throughout the week. First of all the whole fiasco had taken place in his home and he was oblivious to the whole situation. His avoiding the topic altogether had made her even more suspicious. It was times like these she wished she hadn't inherited her father's perceptiveness. He had been one Tokyo's finest cops before an injury forced him into early retirement.

She could have overlooked everything. Maybe he had nothing to do with it. Even she would be nervous if someone had to be rushed into emergency at a party she hosted after all. Maybe that's all it was. A panicked reaction to a potential tragedy.

Then she had that last talk with Naruto. The way he had blown her off when she tried to talk to him about Kiba. She still wasn't sure why she had done that. A part of her for some reason wanted his approval and Naruto for some reason had never gotten along with Takeshi. Actually Takeshi didn't like him, if she was being honest with herself. Naruto just didn't care about him either way. Then there was the blonde enigma to consider.

She sighed inaudibly as she gazed at the empty seat at her side. He hadn't come to school all week. That in itself worried her. Their last conversation was about Kiba, or more specifically about Takeshi. She didn't know what it was about Naruto that made her want his approval. He gave no indication whatsoever that he cared either way.

For some reason Naruto intimidated Takeshi. It was weird for a 11th grader to be intimidated by a mere 8th grader, specially when you have a 30 pound and half a foot of advantage over them, but it was there. Naruto scared Takeshi. But what was even more surprising was that his fear somehow made perfect sense to her.

The more she thought about it the less sense his absence made.

"Rrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnggggg."

The bell announced the end of the class, snapping Ino out of her thoughts.

She hated her life right now.

* * *

What a week! Anko thought to herself. Sitting in her work space at the police station Anko sifted through her paper work. While a field officer, paper work still needed to be filled out. While the work was dull and boring, it allowed Anko to think over all the events that had transpired this week. Specially when she received two bomb-shells in the same day. The first one slightly more unexpected than the second.

Yugao. She remembered their fight as it was yesterday. It was immediately after Iruka's demise. She had wanted to look into it after the preliminary investigations concluded it to be an accident. That's what it looked like at first glance too.

A student coming home after a late night of studying, probably fell asleep on the wheel, lost control and that was the end of story. So everyone thought. She had pursued the case with the determination of a shark who had caught scent of blood.

Of all the people she had expected her to understand. But then she hadn't. Instead of being a supportive friend, she had been almost adamant in trying get her to let it go. Maybe she meant well, she was grasping at straws in the beginning anyway, that combined with the dead ends she had hit forced her to get transferred here... only to run into _Naruto._

She didn't know what to think of the boy. On the one hand he appeared to be a quiet, polite if a little socially awkward boy. But then he turned out to be a ruthless killer. She wasn't sure why she was protecting him. Probably because no one would believe her anyway. In this world 14 year olds spend their time playing X-boxes and PS3s. The biggest problems they dealt with were their grades or how to talk to the cute girl who sits next to them in maths class. In this world, 14 year olds don't take down terrorists. In this world 14 year olds aren't killers. And that was exactly who Naruto Uzumaki was. He was a born and bred killer.

Which brought her back to Iruka. What was his relation to Naruto? Yugao coming up with that leaf symbol among Iruka's things added only more questions. Anko had planned on showing the symbol to Naruto and maybe get some answers out of him.

Then he disappears. Convenient? She didn't think so. Which brought her to the second bomb-shell. Naruto actively seeking her out. He literally stormed into her house coming up with a story about drugs which can't be detected and asking her to look into it. The shock of seeing him at her place completely shoved the leaf symbol out of her mind. When she had gone to his place the next day, she found his apartment locked. A talk with the Ichiraku's told her that he had called in sick, but she knew better. Since the cops won't do anything, he would.

The worst thing was she couldn't blame him either. He had come to her for help and she had all but rejected him. She did try to placate him by promising to get someone to look into it, but it was too late.

She didn't even want to think what he was upto at the moment. And part of her couldn't help wondering how much of his actions would be her fault. He had offered her the chance to take care of it. To be fair, she did try to get the inspector in charge of the Narcotics department to look into it. Daichi Minamoto was not exactly an idiot, but he was unmotivated and extremely territorial. He didn't take a second to shoot down her, or in this case Naruto's theory and had told her in no uncertain terms to stay off his territory. In hindsight she probably should have tried harder.

But what was done was done, and now she hoped that she wouldn't have to dig up too many bodies. Because if what happened at the museum was any indication, that's exactly what they are gonna end up digging.

* * *

"Hey Ino!" Came a voice from behind her.

"Are you gonna keep ignoring him?" Sakura asked her friend.

"He has been ignoring me all week." Ino huffed.

"Well, I think you should talk to him." Sakura was walking beside Ino. The school was over and they were on their way home. Suddenly a hand grabbed Ino from behind and pulled her back.

"Are you ignoring me?" Takeshi looked angry.

"Let me go Takeshi." Ino managed to keep her voice steady, even though her heart was racing. Sakura looked indecisive. She wasn't sure if she should stay or go get help and seemed to be looking at Ino.

"Can we talk?" Takeshi tried to control his temper. Ino pulled her arm out of Takeshi's firmly and crossed her arms expecting him to continue.

"Alone?" He requested gazing at Sakura. Ino stared at him for a moment before giving a slight nod to her friend to move on without him. Sakura gave her friend a concerned look before complying.

"Ok. Talk." Ino said once Sakura was out of hearing range.

"Why don't I drop you home?" Takeshi offered, opening the door of his car.

Ino seemed to consider it for a moment. He had never done this before for fear of having to face her parents. Ino decided to cut him some slack.

"Look I know I have been a jerk this past week." Takeshi started the conversation, once they had started off for her home. Ino remained silent. This girl infuriated him at times with her stubbornness. But that was also the reason he liked her. At first she was like any other girl who had developed a crush on him, but the more he started to know her the more he liked her. She was fiercely independent and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Plus she was extremely mature for her age. In short she was, at the risk of sounding cliched, different.

"Well?" He prompted her.

"Well what?" Ino fired back.

"I am trying to apologize here." Takeshi was beginning to get worked up again.

"You aren't doing a very good job."

Takeshi took a few calming breaths. His hands gripping the steering wheel hard.

"I am sorry." He finally managed. "Its just that I have a lot on my mind lately."

Ino's eyes softened.

"Its okay. I am sorry too for snapping at you like that. I have had a bad week too, and then you kept blowing me off. The whole thing with Kiba and then Naruto..." Ino's voice trailed off as Takeshi clenched his jaw. Then there was Naruto.

"What about him?" He didn't like the boy. But like every problem ignoring him won't make him go away.

"He hasn't been to school this week. I wonder what's keeping him? His apartment was locked the last time I went to see him and I am beginning to get a little worried." Ino furrowed her brows.

"I don't trust him Ino and I would like you to stay away from him in the future." Takeshi told her firmly.

"Why?" The tone of Ino's voice told him she wanted him to give her a good reason. Damn this used to be so much easier.

"I don't know. He has troublemaker written all over him and how well do you know the guy anyway?" Takeshi almost bit his tongue at his last statement. Trying to keep Ino away from trouble would be hypocrisy, considering he was swimming in an ocean of trouble himself.

"He is my classmate and my friend, so it is natural for me to worry about him. Wait a minute. Are you jealous?" Ino spoke the last sentence in a slightly higher pitched voice than usual.

"No. Ofcourse not. I just don't want you to get into trouble." His arguments were beginning to sound hollow even to him.

"That's not good enough Takeshi. You never confide your problems with me, but you seem to be an expert on my problems. This is not how it works. You need to be able to trust me, so that I can trust you. " They had reached her home, and Ino was about to disembark, when Takeshi held her hand stopping her.

Ino raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. Takeshi took another deep breath.

"Look. I have had some trouble recently. I wish I could share everything with you..."

"Does your trouble have anything to do with Kiba?" Ino interrupted him.

Takeshi stayed silent. Any other girl he would have denied it outright. But gazing at her eyes, he couldn't bring himself to lie.

"Thought so." Ino pulled her arm away from his grasp, involuntary tears starting to fill her eyes.

"Ino wait!" Takeshi tried to call her back.

"Go to hell!" Ino screamed as she rushed in her house.

Inoichi opened the door to see his daughter in tears.

"... Hime what's wrong?" Inoichi tried to stop her, but Ino had rushed past her father and slammed her bedroom door close. Takeshi, couldn't move for a while as he watched Ino leave him.

He lost her.

And it was all his fault.

He didn't think he will be able to win her back. But he would sure as hell try and clean up his mess. And he will do it tonight.

* * *

Anko had just managed to finish her paperwork. A look at her watch indicated the time to be 11:30 PM. Stretching her limbs she heard her bones crack. It had been a long day. Now all that needed to be done was go home pull up her blankets and hit the sack.

But it seemed Kami above wasn't about to be merciful to her today, if the way Ibiki was walking towards her was any indication. He looked his usual stoic self, with just a hint of urgency in his gait. Knowing Ibiki the way she did, she was sure that something had the man agitated.

"Anko we have an emergency. Get ready we are leaving for downtown."

"What happened?" She was already moving. Mirroring her superior.

"There has been an incident. Possibly a gang war scenario." Ibiki briefed her while still walking. "It seems Haven was hit along with a few warehouses."

Anko's blood froze in her veins. Her worst fears were coming to life.

"Casualties?" Anko whispered dread coating her voice.

"We are still in the process of determining that." Ibiki said grimly.

* * *

"Mission complete Leader." The feminine figure dressed in black addressed the room. Her voice devoid of any emotion. The room had no lighting and whatever lighting was there came from a monitor hanging 7 feet from the wall. The face of the person in the monitor couldn't be seen as it was in the shadows.

"Report." She was greeted by a stony voice.

"The hit went as planned. The scenario resembles a mob war ground."

"Any witnesses or survivors."

"None."

"Very well. Congratulations on completing your first assignment, Subject 4. You may leave."

The figure bowed once before retreating from the dark room.

* * *

"That went well." Leader turned to his assistant and right-hand man.

"Of course it did."

"Why did you have her hit this one though?"

"They had developed a drug which couldn't be detected. This couldn't be allowed to continue. Wasn't it obvious?" Leader's voice took on its slightly arrogant tone.

"We could have let the police handle this." The man tried again.

"They wouldn't have succeeded. Once the drugs got into the streets it would have only gotten worse." Leader explained.

"But now there is the danger of a mob-war."

"That is a problem for the police. And I would have thought you knew better than to question me." His voice this time was laced with impatience.

"Please forgive my insolence Leader." The man was now placating.

The Leader relaxed into his chair, hands folded. This one would go far. He had high hopes for Subject 4.

**Well...No Naruto in this chapter. So that was a bit disappointing I suppose. But he will be there next time along with the resolution of this arc. Don't forget to leave a line.**


	13. Chimera arc chapter 4 Conclusion

**A/N:- Well guys, some of you must have been disappointed about Naruto's absence in the last chapter. Atleast those who reviewed were. Well here is the new one. Again thanks to iamnarutofan2200, my man Namikaze541, and guest reviewer, whoever you are. Special thanks to everyone who has favorited or is following my story. Anyway enjoy.**

**Chimera arc chapter 4: Conclusion**

The place was hell. This part of the city wasn't a good place to be in at the best of times. With its drab and filthy buildings, rampant poverty and bleary eyed residents it looked like a scene straight out of a drug-addled nightmare.

But even in this abode of darkness, Haven stood out. Well of course the bullet holes in the doorway and the lobby of the club weren't helping matters. The bodies littering the club only made them worse.

The October air was chilly and Anko pulled her jacket closer to combat the night chills. As she approached the crime scene an involuntary shudder ran through her spine. It wasn't the chill of night air, it was the chill of apprehension of what was waiting for her inside.

As a child of streets, she had become desensitized to violence at a time when most girls that age would be more concerned with playing dress-ups and having the next slumber parties. The streets did that to you. The gift of innocence was never bestowed on her. Despite that she had a clear understanding of right and wrong, which kept her narrow and straight. She did have Iruka to thank for that.

She sighed as her thoughts again led her to her deceased friend. She would be lying if she said that they didn't stray. They came extremely close in fact. The decisions which would have either led to a bullet at the back of the head in an empty alley or the inside of a jail cell. Those would have been some of the better endings too. She didn't like to think about the worse ones.

No, dead bodies and violence didn't bother her all that much. She wouldn't have chosen a career as a cop if it did. But it did bother her when it may have been her fault.

Anko ducked under the cordon the police had set up at the scene. Ibiki had already moved on to make his inquiries. The flash of a camera indicated the photographer was hard at his work. She approached the officer on the scene.

"Casualties?" She inquired.

"56. No survivors. Whoever it was meant business." The man said in a tone of forced nonchalance.

"Any leads?"

"Looks like a turf war scenario. I will tell you though I have seen some shit in my years at the force, but never seen carnage like this." The man shuddered visibly.

Anko walked in. He was right. The inside of the club resembled a meat grinder. It was absolute massacre. Only her experience and an empty stomach kept her from hurling then and there.

The walls were splattered with blood. Exotic dancers, bouncers, patrons, junkies. The typical crowd. The green neon lights were still blinking in a gross parody of this macabre.

"There you are." She was greeted by Ibiki as he walked up to her. "So what do you think?"

"Dunno. At first glance does look like a brewing gang war."

"But..." That's why Anko respected Ibiki. He was always open to suggestions and theories and never wrote her off.

"The Yakuza make their points by executions true, but they also use their notoriety to insure the silence of the witnesses. Speaking of which are there any?" Anko looked around, though not hopefully.

"You are looking at them. Or what's left of them anyway." Ibiki had a morbid sense of humor, something which had rubbed off on Anko. "So you mean to say the mob may not have been involved." Ibiki crouched to inspect a body.

"I don't know. Who can tell? If it wasn't the mob who could it have been?" Anko shrugged.

"Well, we will just have to see." Turning to another cop on the scene. "Get me Daichi, I need his input on this whole mess."

"Yes sir!"

"You think this is bad, you should have seen the warehouse. Burnt to the ground." Ibiki said turning to Anko once again. "It looks like they were planning on getting something new in the streets."

"Really?" Anko walked up to the body of a dead dancer. Nailed in the forehead, this one was. A ghost of a smile frozen on her face. She probably was the first victim of this bloodbath.

"Is something wrong Anko?" Ibiki addressed his protege.

"What do you mean?" Anko asked puzzled.

"You seem spaced out. By now you would have drawn 30 conclusions." Ibiki elaborated.

"Nothing. I am just tired." Anko rubbed her eyes, she was beginning to come down with a headache too.

Ibiki stared at her, concern marring his scarred face.

"Go get some sleep then. You are no good as you are."

"No, I am fine. Just need some coffee." Anko protested.

"Anko, shut up and go home. Be here tomorrow." Ibiki was in no mood o argue.

Anko sighed audibly.

"Fine." She grumbled. Not knowing what else she could do. She was conflicted, if she should reveal what she knew.

The kid better disappear after what he pulled off. Cause if he dares show his face, connection to Iruka or not, she would kill him. Consequences be damned.

* * *

Anko unlocked the door to her apartment. Dropping off her jacket on the sofa, she made her way to the bathroom. She needed a shower. When she realized something was wrong. The light in her kitchen was on. She had a feeling of deja vu, as she pulled out her gun.

"You won't be needing that Anko-san." Came a gravelly voice. "I am just using your kitchen. Its been a while since I have had a proper meal."

Inside her kitchen was a black headed figure, dressed like a bum. His clothes were ragged and dirty. But his feet which peeked under his trousers were surprisingly clean. Right now he was watching a packet of instant ramen boil.

"Who are you?" Anko didn't relax her grip from her weapon.

"I want you to relax Anko-san." The man turned around. He had brown eyes, and his bangs fell over his forehead. She didn't recognize the man. But something in his manner indicated that he knew her. Then to her surprise, his hands went to his eyes, and pulled out what looked like contacts.

She didn't know what came over her. All she knew at the moment was white hot rage. She felt the need to hurt something, and that something was him. Dropping her weapon, she lashed out with a fist, aimed at his face.

Now Anko was no slouch when it came to hand to hand combat. She was pretty good infact, black belts in karate and jujitsu and she had the advantage of surprise and the complete lack of stance of her opponent. She might have been trying to hit air for all it mattered. Her fist was just redirected to the wall behind him. She followed up her assault with a kick to the ribs, which was promptly blocked. He flipped her over, she compensated mid-air and landed on her feet, before charging forward, trying to get her arms around her opponent. But he just fell on his back, as she flew over him, crashing into the living room table. She however recovered quickly, flipping on to her feet as she charged him again. But it was no use, all of her attacks were either blocked or dodged. Her hands were a blur now, when he suddenly walked into one of her attacks, or so it seemed, trapping her leg with his own, he pushed her down, and next thing she knew she was face down on the floor.

"Are you done?" A voice spoke into her ear. This time the voice wasn't gravelly, it was smooth and surprisingly calm. Anko merely huffed in anger. "I am going to let you up. I don't want you attacking me. Can you do that?" Anko glared at him for a moment, trying to think of a way out, before nodding.

The figure backed away slowly, his hands raised in surrender, indicating he meant no harm.

Anko got to her feet.

"You have exactly 10 seconds to convince me why I shouldn't tear you limb to limb you bastard." Anko snarled.

The figure merely held his jaw and spat out what looked like dentures. Instantly his face became a lot more boyish, he rubbed his cerulean blue eyes.

"Would you believe me if I told you I had nothing to do with what transpired tonight?"

"Bullshit!" Anko crossed her arms. "You have 5 seconds."

"This will take some time. I can explain, but I need you to listen to me." Naruto's hands were still held out in a placating gesture. "If you aren't satisfied, you may do whatever you want, and I will comply quietly."

Anko relaxed her stance. "First of all why are you dressed like a hobo? And how did you get in anyway?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Don't answer that." She could feel a headache on its way.

Naruto let out a sigh as he casually walked to the upturned sofa. Setting it straight he sat down.

"Thought that might come up." Anko remained silent. "My plan was to infiltrate the drug ring and get some info on the new drug they were creating initially. Could hardly go about that looking like a respectable citizen now can I? So I decided to masquerade as an addict looking for a fix." Anko furrowed her brows in confusion. "I got quite far too. You won't believe what people are ready to reveal, when they think you are too high to care. The drug Chimera as it was called, was in its developmental stages. Even though 30% of the users showed symptoms similar to what Kiba showed. 15% of them didn't survive."

"Then you decided to take out the entire cartel to stop them from pumping the drugs into the streets." Anko couldn't help herself.

"That's what happened, but I am not the one who did it." Naruto ignored her accusations.

"Once I had enough information on the new drug and the ring-leaders, I planned on creating some ruckus to get the police there, and maybe have you expose the ring. That's all." He ran his hand through his black locks as he finished.

"Yes, and you didn't have anything to do with the dead terrorists in the museum either." Anko wasn't buying this.

"Didn't have a choice there. Those people would have died if I didn't do what I did." Naruto retreated to the kitchen and poured out his ramen in a bowl. It was slightly burnt unfortunately, oh hell! beggars can't be choosers.

"So what made you think you had a choice here?" Anko wasn't letting up either..

"Like I said, I just wanted to attract attention to this place and you would have caught them red-handed. That plan went bust." He let out a deep breath. Between bites retaking his seat while Anko still remained standing. "Turns out someone else decided to clean the streets. Or rather prevent them from getting any dirtier."

"What do you mean?" Anko was puzzled now. "If it wasn't you, it must have been the Yakuza."

Naruto stared at her, deciding how much he should reveal. Seeing him like that only compounded Anko's confusion.

"Wait a minute. So if you didn't do it and the Yakuza weren't involved?" Anko exclaimed.

Naruto nodded.

"Don't tell me it was the work of a vigilante group."

"I won't call them vigilantes." Naruto started to get up.

"What are you talking about? You know who did this?" Anko was beginning to put the pieces together.

"Maybe." Anko was sure now he was being evasive. "Can't be sure though."

"Humor me."

Naruto poured himself a glass of water and downed it.

"If it was who I think it was, they used it as a test run for a new... assassin." He seemed to struggle for a word.

"So, the people who created you were involved?"

"Maybe. I could be wrong. It was over by the time I got there." Naruto shrugged.

Anko wanted to continue this line of questioning when she realized something.

"What I don't get is how did they get an operation of this magnitude hidden from the cops?"

"That was the masterpiece. They weren't using their regular street dealers." Naruto paused here. "They were using school kids."

"WHAT?" Anko couldn't help herself.

"It was brilliant move if you think about it." Naruto continued to elaborate. "If they kept it low key there was no way, you guys would know about it. You can't exactly send cops undercover as school kids either."

Revelations after revelations. Anko's tired brain was processing everything at light speeds now."Your school mate Takeshi. He was one of them wasn't he? He was peddling drugs. And your friend Kiba got some from him."

Naruto nodded. "Takeshi got into some dealings with these people, yes. But he wanted to get out from what I gathered."

"That may be. But he will still be arrested." Atleast they would have something to show for this, if anything at all.

"About that." Something in Naruto's tone made her take notice again. "He was at the scene today. He didn't survive."

"No, I am pretty sure we would have recognized his body if we found it there." Anko insisted.

"You didn't find it, because I removed it."

"..."

It took a minute for Anko to process what was said. And her reaction said it all.

"The lack of sleep must be getting to me cause I am sure I heard you say you REMOVED A BODY FROM A CRIME SCENE."

Naruto winced at her tone. "I can explain."

"You better. What were you thinking?" Anko was beyond exasperated now. She didn't know how to deal with this.

"I was thinking that people from Takeshi's world have a lot to lose. He made some bad choices, but he wanted to come clean. From his actions tonight I could tell that he was about to flip on the dealers. He never got the chance." Anko glared at him as he rinsed his the dish. She seemed to be doing a lot of that tonight. "Listen all I am saying is, he doesn't deserve to remembered like a kid who dealt in drugs. It will be his family and friends who will have to live with that knowledge and I would rather spare them the pain, specially since it wouldn't do any good."

Anko held her glare for a moment, before breaking down. Great the kid had a messiah complex. Ironic as it may be.

"So I suppose you want me to handle it, since you are confiding in me."

"Yes, please."

Anko rubbed her forehead, that headache was really getting on her nerves now. "So, if it was an... assassination, carried out by... whoever... created...you. Who would it be?"

"That I can't tell you." Anko's jaw clicked in annoyance. "I can tell you that, it was the assassin's first time." Naruto picked up his jacket as he made his way to the door.

"How do you know it was the first assignment? Won't you need someone experienced to do this?" Anko questioned him.

Naruto just silently stared at her, before saying. "It was their first time."

"Was Iruka helping you with these... assassinations?" Anko wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

"Would you really want to know?" Naruto questioned her as if reading her mind. "Its kinda funny how you don't want to let go of your past and I can't seem to get away from mine." Naruto made his way to the door. "This was the first assignment for the assassin. Someone in their early to mid-teens. I don't need to tell you how dangerous they can be. Before the door shut behind him, he added. "Don't bother looking for them, cause you will never find them."

* * *

Naruto made his way to his bathroom. His eyes looked even more sleep deprived than usual. His hair which had been dyed black along with his dirty clothes, had served him well, though in the end for naught. Takeshi had still died, and his detour had changed nothing. Well at least he had made sure Anko won't be trying to put him in jail.

The little victories. The ones which made you wish for defeat all the more.

Maybe demons aren't meant to do the work of angels. Dropping his clothes he walked into the shower.

15 minutes later having changed into more comfortable clothes he fell on his bed. He was exhausted. There was a big mess to be cleared, but he could escape it, if only for a few hours.

* * *

_"Heard you just finished your first assignment Subject 9." Iruka addressed him from his desk. He wasn't sure but there was some sort of inflection in his tone._

_"Yes, Iruka sensei." He replied._

_"So what was it?"_

_"Had to take down a local drug lord and terminate his operation." He replied._

_"How did it go?" Iruka was studying him with a pensive look on his face._

_"I don't know. It was an assignment I was ordered to do, and I carried it out efficiently." Came his usual emotionless reply._

_"But..." Iruka prompted him._

_"My hands can't stop shaking. I might have to go to the medical to get myself checked." At this Iruka took him in his arms. He was surprised at the man's actions, but eventually hugged him back, involuntary tears dripping from his eyes. He didn't understand them. His chest began to feel heavier and he had trouble breathing._

_"It's okay." Iruka's said in a soothing voice. "Its not your fault." He didn't know what Iruka meant, but he took comfort in it nevertheless._

Later he would realize exactly what he meant. But with that he also came to the realization that no matter whose fault it was, he would be the one to have to live with it.

**There another one done. Frankly, this chapter was hard to write, and that's what made it more fun. I edited it like 6 times, before getting to this. So anyway, REVIEW. Really needed to get that out of my system. Until next time.**


	14. Chimera arc chapter 5: Aftermath

**A/N:- Well guys am back again. . The last chapter was supposed to be the last chapter of this arc, then I realized...Too many loose ends. And I just had to tie them up. ****Thank you for all the favorites, follows and reviews**Though have to say, my 30 word author note got me more hits and reviews than my 3000 word chapters. Go figure. Anyway don't forget to check out my new story Shinobi Diaries: The Golden Sage Chronicles. And tell me what you think. Enjoy.

**Chimera arc chapter 5: Aftermath**

Naruto opened his eyes to the familiar surroundings of his room. For some reason today he was feeling more lethargic than he had since coming to this city. His watch claimed the time to be 9 A.M. He was late for school. Despite this he couldn't bring himself to care. He had gone a week without school. They could survive another day without him. If they didn't... Well too bad.

Pulling his comforter back over his head he tried to go back to sleep. After 15 minutes, he gave up. Pulling himself up, he finished his usual morning ritual. Stepping out of the shower toweling his hair, he decided to make plans for the day.

Maybe he should drop by to Ichiraku's. He had kept in contact with them. Couldn't have them calling the cops reporting a missing person's report after all. He had given them the excuse of needing more time to deal with the whole held hostage by the terrorist thing.

Well show was over now. He had his little vacation. Now it was time for the shadows to fade in light.

* * *

Working her way through another set of tables, Ayame started on the counter. Just another day in her life. She couldn't wait to start college again. Though with the lack of staff, her father could use all the help he could get. She had never known her mother and her father meant the world to her. But she also knew this wasn't the life she wanted for herself and neither did her father.

She had to thank Iruka for that. He was the son Teuchi never had and a brother she had always wanted. Inspired by Iruka her father had put his all into putting his only daughter through school and now college.

If he could do it without any help or support, she could too with the support of her father. Whenever she thought about him, her heart sank. A brilliant man with a bright future ahead of him, passes away in a car accidents of all things. After having survived a chaotic childhood, that's how things ended for him. Just when things were beginning to look up too.

Thinking about Iruka brought to mind another seemingly lost soul. Naruto.

She didn't know much about the kid, except he was somehow knew Iruka, and knew him well. Though how and why was something they never got into. He was polite enough and social enough. The type of boy who doesn't get in trouble, has good grades and is obedient and respectful of his elders.

When they had decided to take care of him, Teuchi had been a little worried about having to take care of a boy. A teen aged boy. To say he wasn't thrilled would have been an understatement. Were they surprised. Not only the boy was different from other kids his age, he was responsible and even helped out at the place. He was no slacker, was up to date with his school work and his teacher's had yet to complain about him.

Except for one thing.

Despite being encouraged, the boy refused to participate in any extra-curriculars. Having shown some talent in the basketball court, the coach had wanted him on the team. He had remained adamant. Citing reasons like school work and earning a living working at Ichiraku's. That was just plain weird for any kid. Though she guessed being an orphan had taught him to rely on himself. So they held their peace.

Except for now.

She hadn't seen the boy in a week and the last time she heard from him was a couple of days ago. Even when he did talk he didn't specify where he was or what he was doing. All he had said was that he needed some time alone to deal what he had gone through during the museum incident.

The ringing of bell announced the entry of a new customer, or so Ayame thought. Checking the time she realized it was barely 10. They didn't open atleast for another half an hour. Well whoever it was she would have to turn away.

"Sorry we aren't open yet, Can you come back in half-an hour?" She gasped in surprise at seeing the objects of her thoughts standing in the doorway.

"Ohayo Ayame san." The former blonde headed boy greeted. Dressed in a casual blue t-shirt and jeans he looked just like any other kid out for the day.

"Naruto? Is that you? God what have you done to your hair?" She was still having trouble recognizing him. Without his usual mop, of blonde hair, he was surprisingly unrecognizable.

"About that."

The casual tone of his voice, broke the proverbial camel's back.

"That's all you have to say... ONE WEEK. We were going out of our minds with worry. The only thing keeping us from calling the cops was thinking how it would affect you. What do you have to say for yourself?" She screamed at him, having unconsciously thrown the rag on the floor.

Naruto was stumped for a while. Having never been on the other end of a righteous feminine fury (Anko didn't count). For a while he wasn't sure how to deal with her or even what to say. Hell he forgot how to speak.

"Well?" She pinned him with a laser stare. The commotion had brought Teuchi out. Who stood beside his daughter, arms folded eyes on him. Not furious, but not pleased either. Taking some comfort in that, Naruto began his apology.

"I am sorry, for having worried you." Ayame scoffed at that. "It won't happen again." He added in a placating tone.

"Where were you?" Ayame wasn't letting him off so easily.

"I was home." He said in a puzzled tone.

"Don't lie to me. I went to your place. It was locked. And not just once." Her arms were now folded over her chest.

"Not during the day time, no I wasn't there. Couldn't stay in the apartment. Used to go out with first light and only came back late night. No wonder you never found me home." Seeing Ayame's expression not relaxing, he added. "You can ask Anko-san."

At this Ayame unfolded her arms. "Do you realize how worried we were?"

"Yes, I am sorry, but I needed to stay away from people for a while. Ever since..." He trailed off, trying to gain the sympathy of the interrogator...and bingo.. She bought it. Now instead of looking angry she only looked concerned.

"Are you okay?" She looked like she wanted to give him a hug. He had no idea what he would do, if she did. That was a territory best left unexplored.

"Yeah, I am fine now. Ready to work. If I am not fired that is." He was only half-joking.

"You're not fired kid. Can't fire my best server." Teuchi finally joined the conversation. "But don't you have school today?"

"I will rejoin tomorrow. If that's okay." He managed his best submissive tone.

"Grab an apron." Teuchi instructed. Yes, he was angry at the kid. But his daughter had already said what needed to be said. Plus his reasons were genuine. As such he had apologized too so he could cut him some slack. He turned back into kitchen. Those noodles weren't going to stir themselves. Only 15 minutes till go time.

* * *

Naruto was in the process of putting on the apron, when he was approached by Ayame again. He got ready for another dressing down. Which reminded him, he better inform Anko so that she could cover for him, if Ayame decided to check his story. Teuchi seemed to take his words at face value at least that was something.

"You sure you're okay?" She asked him. So that's what she wanted. He wasn't sure if he should be glad or exasperated. On the one hand she wasn't digging into too much into his story, which was definitely something to be happy about... but her trying to be his therapist made him wish she was a little more paranoid.

"I am fine Ayame-san. Just needed to get my head straight." He said in a tone he hoped was reassuring.

"You know we can have people over you can talk to. Doesn't have to be me. I know you have been through a lot, and Kiba being hospitalized couldn't have been easy on you." She tried.

Naruto sighed.

"I am fine Ayame-san, but if it makes you feel better I will have some extra sessions with the school counselor."

A smile broke into Ayame's face. She didn't want to be probing, and was afraid he won't react well to her concern. But looks like she had nothing to worry about. She was worried about his dyed hair. Atleast it was black and not something like fluorescent green. She shuddered at the thought.

"I will like that."

That took some work. Naruto mused to himself. He was their ward. Had to keep them happy. Or at least as close to it as possible.

* * *

"Chicken ramen, miso ramen and chicken teriyaki for tables 6,8 and 9." Naruto shouted the orders.

"Coming up." Teuchi confirmed.

"Take the order for table 12 will you?" Ayame told him as she herself went the other way.

""Welcome to Ichiraku's what can I get for y... Ino." He officially hated Ayame. She did this on purpose. It would have been funny, if her boyfriend had been alive and she didn't even know about it. Scratch that... It wouldn't have been funny even then.

There she was sitting in her school uniform, arms folded and legs crossed, with an expression on her face similar to one Ayame had a few hours ago.

Here we go again.

"Naruto?" Her tone was puzzled.

"Ino." He said in a neutral tone. "How have you been?"

"Where have you been and what have you done to your hair?" She ignored his query.

It was Ayame all over again. Avoiding this wouldn't be smart in the long run.

"I am taking my break now Ayame-san."

"Take your time." Came the reply.

Turning to Ino, he took the seat opposite her and started on his contrived reasons.

"... Why didn't you pick up your phone?" She questioned him once he was done.

"Needed to be alone." He muttered.

"Well, I went through the same thing you know. We can talk." She said earnestly. Now Naruto was getting annoyed. What is it with girls and wanting to 'talk'?

"Its okay... I am fine now. So how has school been?" He steered the subject to less... torrid waters.

Ino stared at him, but sighed allowing him to change the subject.

"School has been okay. By the way Kiba woke up. He wondered where you were too. You should visit him."

"That's great." Finally some good news. He wouldn't lie. He was worried.

"Yeah."She took a deep breath. "I am sorry."

"What for?" Now he was confused.

"For having snapped at you that day."

It took him a while to recall what she was talking about.

"Oh that... Don't worry about it." He told her nonchalantly. "Anyway better get back to work or Ayame will have my hide. What would you like?"

"One red-bean soup." She placed her order.

"Coming right up."

"By the way I would go back to the blonde look if I were you. Black isn't your color."

* * *

"You know I would have never pegged you as the type." Kiba said chewing on some nuts.

"What type?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"The goth type. I half expect you to start brooding and start answering questions with monosyllabic grunts." Kiba commented. "Next thing I know, you're cutting yourself and shooting up. What was that for?" Kiba started rubbing his head after Naruto had smacked him.

"That's for being an idiot." He said dryly.

It was evening. After his shift had ended Naruto had come to visit Kiba. He had to admit, he looked completely healthy now. With mutual consent, they had refrained from discussing events that led him to being hospitalized.

So now they had ended up talking about Naruto's new hair color. Not much of an upgrade, as far as conversations went.

"No seriously what's with the new hairdo?"

"Just felt it was time for a change." He shrugged.

"I wish I could dye my hair. My mom would shave my scalp, the day that happens." Kiba complained.

That's why Naruto liked spending time with Kiba. He was a welcome relief from the girls.

"So how much longer are you going to be here?" Naruto picked up a sliced apple, from the tray in front of him.

"Going home tomorrow. May be able to join school the after that... Hopefully. You leaving?" Kiba said seeing Naruto get up.

"Yeah. Visiting hours are almost over anyway. Don't want the nurse to kick me out anyway."

"Okay then See you later."

* * *

The dreaded news came the next day, for everyone else that is. Takeshi had been a victim of street mugging. The perpetrator was still at large. The boy had not come home since the day before yesterday, not unusual for the boy. His parents contacted the police, after he failed to turn up the next day.

The news broke out during lunch hour. Leading to increased murmuring and a minor breakdown of Ino, during which she retreated to the girl's bathroom, followed by Sakura, who rushed off to help her friend.

All this while Naruto quietly nibbled on his food, tuning out the conversation of his classmates.

* * *

The funeral was 2 days later. Naruto was attending and was joined by Teuchi. Coming up to the altar, Naruto paid his respects, burned some incense and muttered a silent apology to Takeshi. A queue of family and friends still behind him waiting to pay their respects.

Naruto made his way to Kiba, who had decided to come despite his history with Takeshi. Dressed in black kimonos they were the picture of a mourning crowd.

"You didn't have to come you know." Naruto told him.

"No, I did." Kiba said silently. Some distance away Ino was shedding silent tears.

"Does it make you feel better?" Naruto questioned him.

"I can't forgive him for what he did to me." Kiba admitted. "But he didn't deserve to die."

Naruto knew what he meant. His feelings were similar to Kiba's on the matter. He had made a mistake, but it was wanting to atone that got him killed. Life was funny like that, only Naruto didn't feel like laughing.

There was also the matter of the new assassin. They were close. The fact that he was still alive proved that they still had no idea about his whereabouts. He would have to be careful.

Sleep with one eye open... Like he had been so far.

Nothing had changed.

* * *

A man sat in his cottage sipping a cup of tea, and studying a file. The 32 inch flat screen LED TV in front of him displayed the news. Highlighting a story about a gang-war scenario in Tokyo. When his phone rang.

He had been expecting this call for a while now.

"You have been busy." He spoke coldly into the phone.

"Don't know what you're talking about?" Came an equally cool voice from the other end.

"I told you to stay away from the Chimera situation, but you went behind my back anyway."

"That was the result of a gang war." The man on the other end denied his involvement.

"One of these days you will go too far... Mark my words." Saying so he cut-off the call.

Turning back to the file he couldn't suppress a smile.

The file contained some documents along with a few photographs of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy.

After a few more minutes he replaced the file on his desk

The file was titled

Subject 9.

Soon. He thought to himself.

**Whew...14 chapters in the bag in less than 3 months. It was a good job even if I do say so myself. Don't forget to review. And in the words of The Looney Toons**

**That's all folks!**

**Until next time.**


	15. The Lost Bandit Arc Chapter 1

**A/N:- Aaaaannnnnddddd I am back. Boy were the last few weeks hectic. No television and no internet. Just packing followed by a road trip. Traversing over 1500 miles in 3 days not to mention all the heavylifting. ****But I am sure you guys don't want to know about that. But anyway here is the new chapter as promised. But before that thanks to Sparkluxlucios (not to sound ungrateful but would appreciate if you reviewed the actual chapters and not just the author's note.), luckyschoolgirl, Fleetfox, Kuro Ryoushi (Will be editing the story soon), special mention to Namikaze 541 and iamnarutofan2200, Celis and last but in no way the least justin the constant reviewer, who left me 15 reviews back to back.(In response to your query if this will be a naruino. I'm not sure yet. Right now my characters are the ones who're moving this story. The"I'm" was for your benefit btw.)**

******The Lost Bandit Arc Chapter 1: Damsel in Distress**

'"You know I hate you right?" Kiba grumbled sourly.

"You got your message through the first twenty times you relayed it I can assure you." Naruto sighed as he got dressed for work.

It was the weekend. They were at Naruto's apartment. Kiba was in the process of arranging Naruto's clothes for laundry protesting all the while.

When Naruto had called him that morning, he had been grateful to have gotten a reprieve from his chores at home. His mom had gone easy on him considering his hospitalization.

That lasted two days.

He was surprised when Naruto called that day. He never called during all the months he had known him.

That was just the first of a series of surprises. The next one came when his mother not only allowed but actually approved of him going to Naruto's. She never approved of his friends. Not that he had many.

He didn't know what he had done to gain his mother's approval, but he was thankful….. for the fifteen minutes it took him to get to his place.

He had totally forgotten about their deal and now he wished Naruto had too, and in his eagerness to get away from the chores at his home he had inadvertently walked into chores at his friend's place.

A few weeks ago, Kiba had promised to help Naruto with his chores if he trained him to get him good enough to make the team, the following events had made it impossible for him to keep up his end of the deal. Kiba suppressed an involuntary shudder when he thought about his training sessions with Naruto. He made Gai look like Father Christmas.

The worst part about this whole mess was that now he was forbidden from playing basketball for the team by his mother. So now he was stuck holding up his end of the deal even though he had been all but banned from the team.

Life just wasn't fair.

Well he will try to convince her later when she wasn't on a warpath. For now he will swallow it like the bitter pill it was.

Naruto placed his foot on the floor having finished tying his laces, when Kiba spoke up again.

"And when was the last time you did your laundry?" He was holding up a pair of black shorts.

"A week." Naruto replied grabbing his jacket.

"Really and why would you leave your laundry lying around for a week? You left it for me didn't you?" Kiba's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Yeah, you can say that." Naruto smirked at him. "Look I was sick too. One of the reasons I took a break from school." He explained, seeing Kiba's expression darken. He didn't want his clothes to have any unfortunate accidents in the laundry. The actual reason was that he was busy looking into a drug cartel which had manufactured the drugs that got Kiba hospitalized, but he wasn't about to tell him that. "Look for what its worth, I wasn't expecting to have to call you today. Emergency at work, Teuchi-san needs an extra pair of hands and my laundry has been lying unattended so make yourself useful. Lock up after you're done."

Naruto hurried to Ichiraku's pushing open the door while in the process of removing his shoes.

"Oh thank god Naruto, you're here." Came the grateful if slightly breathless voice of Ayame, as she hurried from one table to the next carrying orders. "Its been crazy over here." She added apologetically for having to call him during the weekend.

"Its not a problem Ayame-san. I am happy to help." He grabbed the order from Ayame with his right hand while pulling over an apron over his head with his left at the same time, without spilling any of the bean-soup he had confiscated from her leaving Ayame gaping at his dexterity. Seeing her staring at him, he couldn't help but add "You better go to the kitchen and help out Teuchi-san, I got it covered here."

Ayame shook of her daze. "Yeah, right….. Thanks again Naruto." She rushed off leaving Naruto to help her father in the kitchen.

The rest of the morning passed quickly, but it wasn't until lunch hour that Naruto finally got a breather.

"I told you it was crazy today." Ayame's voice greeted him from the sink where she was doing the dishes, while Naruto helped himself to a glass of water.

"That you did." Naruto placed the glass on the sink.

"I hate how we had to pull you up during the weekend. This should have been your free time." Ayame said while retreating towards the kitchen.

"And like I said, its no big deal, I am happy to help."

While he was talking Ayame had returned with a big bowl and placed it in Naruto's hands.

"Miso ramen with extra veggies just the way you like it." Ayame smiled at him. "You are surprisingly non-whiny for a teenager you know that. I remember the trouble I gave dad every time he tried to get me to work on weekends when I was your age."

"Its not like I have anything better to do." Naruto shrugged.

"That's what worries me. A teenager should have something better to do. Its like outside your school and this place you don't have a life." Ayame started wiping the dishes while she spoke. Her tone was casual, but Naruto knew otherwise.

"You don't have to worry. I like coming here. Moreover I did take an unscheduled week off. So think of it as my way of making it up to you." Naruto had finished his meal and handed the bowl back to Ayame. "Thanks for the meal by the way."

"If you say so." Ayame conceded reluctantly.

Naruto felt that he had just dodged a bullet. Maybe he should do something about that. Because it will come up again, of that he had no doubts. He will cross that bridge when he got to it.

The ringing of the doorbell indicated the entry of a new customer. Naruto made to receive the new customer, before he was stopped by Ayame.

"Your shift is over. Why don't you go home and let me take this one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I am sure."

"I will see you on Monday then."

Waving off Naruto .Ayame went to receive the new customer.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's, how can we serve you today?" Ayame used her best server's voice, complete with friendly smile and a jaunty voice, so she was surprised when the woman in front of her looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"S….Si?" The woman said nervously.

Slightly confused by the response of her new customer, Ayame took the time to study her.

The woman looked like she was in her early to mid-twenties. A white tank top underneath a black jacket and jeans, she looked like a modern everyday woman, but she didn't look Japanese.

That wasn't really surprising to Ayame, they have had their fair share of tourists in their joint. She had seen them look excited, confused, sheepish and on bad days irritated.

But this woman she looked….. _nervous?_

"You can't speak Japanese can you?" She said addressing the young woman in front of her.

"Perdón…." The woman reached for her back pocket.

"Por qué no te tomas una señora asiento.( Why don't you take a seat ma'am?)" Came a voice from behind her, and she was surprised to see Naruto still dressed in his work clothes, leading the woman to a booth, who looked bemusedly at the boy.

Naruto had been in the process of changing and finally going home. Ayame had said that she would take care of the rest. He was on his way out when he saw Ayame conversing with the new customer …. And he froze in his tracks.

The woman had the look of a hunted animal. She was hiding it fairly well from Ayame, but he could literally smell the fear oozing from her.

That's when he decided… He needed to get her out of here, or whatever trouble she was in, she would end up leading it here, if she already hadn't.

As he approached her, he gave her a once over. The ring on her finger indicated that she was married, but not for long. Her features pointed towards Spanish descent, which was confirmed a second later when she tried to talk to Ayame. She was no tourist obviously, maybe she was looking for someone.

She was about to reach into her back pocket when Naruto approached her.

"How can we serve you today ma'am?" He addressed the woman in perfect Spanish, while gently prying her away from Ayame.

"Naruto? I thought you went home." Ayame exclaimed, bewildered. "And since when did you speak Russian?"

"Its Spanish actually." Ayame was about to open her mouth to protest, but was cut off once again. "Look I was on my way home, but it looks like you can use some help with this one."

Ayame glared at him before finally shrugging.

"Fine have it your way, but you're going home straight after."

"Will do." Naruto turned to the woman who had been watching the exchange with some apprehension.

Naruto silently handed her the menu, while waiting on the side to take her order.

The woman took the menu, and for a while seemed to be struggling with herself, as she fidgeted restlessly.

"I would recommend the oolong tea. Does wonders for your nerves." Naruto suggested politely.

"I would like that thank you." She said in a quiet voice.

Naruto was in the process of relaying the order to the kitchen when his worst fears came true.

The ringing of the doorbell announced the new arrival.

There wasn't anything dramatic about the new entrant. He was a man in his early thirties, slightly taller than the average male, clean shaven with a crop of short black hair. Dressed in a gray coat over a blue shirt and matching gray pants, he looked like the guy you see every day on the subway at the end of the day, but never remembered. Naruto knew better. He spent half his life learning how to hide in plain sight and the other half doing it.

In a street full of people, he might have had a hard time singling him out, but here he was expecting him and he knew just where to look.

Almost immediately Naruto started sizing him up. He was carrying a piece, judging by the slight bulge in the right hand side of his coat, also meant that he was left-handed. His gait indicated that he had another piece strapped to his ankle. Doesn't like close combat. Neither did Naruto for that matter. A bullet fired from a silenced gun was way more effective and discrete after all.

Great he is Yakuza. What the hell had this girl gotten herself into? Naruto thought to himself

All this took less than 5 seconds.

"Good afternoon sir, welcome to Ichiraku's how can we serve you today?" Naruto assumed his best professional manner leading the man to an empty booth as far away from the woman as he could.

The man didn't seem to mind, as he took a seat and accepted the menu offered to him by Naruto.

The man didn't take long to make a decision.

"I will have some red-bean soup." He smiled amiably at the young server.

Naruto grimaced apologetically."I am sorry sir, but we are out of red bean soup. But if you insist on having some you can try try the Kenichi's which is just 2 blocks down."

"That's okay, I will just choose something else from the menu."

Naruto scowled inwardly. He hadn't expected the flimsy excuse to get him out work, but was disappointed anyway. Well he had to try.

"Of course sir, please take your time."

He turned around to see Ayame glaring daggers at him. He suppressed a grimace.

"I promise Ayame-san, this is the last one." He said trying to placate the woman. "Oolong tea for table 9 and table 2 hasn't made his mind yet." He fired off the orders before she could start ranting.

Ayame glared at him as if to tell him she knew what he was doing and Naruto gulped involuntarily before turning on her feet to relay the order to her father.

Meanwhile Naruto decided to observe the two. It was obvious that the woman was followed here and she realized it too. But he obviously wasn't the one she saw following her.

So that meant, she had seen a scout who was monitoring her movements. The presence of this man meant that he was about to make his move, and the girl was doomed the moment she walked out of the restaurant.

Making a decision he approached the woman again.

"Is there anything else you would like?" He asked politely.

She flinched as if shocked, she was definitely on edge.

"No, thank you." She finally managed, having recovered a few seconds later.

"So what brings you to Japan?" Naruto inquired trying to sound like he was just making small talk.

The woman seemed to struggle with herself for a while, before finally speaking.

"I am looking for a person. A man." She reached into her back pocket fishing out a photograph of a man, with blonde hair and gray eyes. "Have you ever seen him." Her eyes held a desperate hope, as if she knew it was useless, but she was trying nevertheless.

"I'm sorry, no." Naruto said after studying the photograph for a moment. The woman's eyes went downcast on hearing his words. While they were talking Ayame had arrived with her tea, giving Naruto an excuse to retreat. He was right, she was here looking for someone, probably her husband. Well he better get the order from the other guy. Yakuza or not he was still a customer.

* * *

15 minutes later Naruto was out of Ichiraku's shadowing the two. The woman had finished her tea and left the restaurant, followed 30 seconds later by the man.

The woman was walking down the streets stopping random people and showing them the photograph trying to glean something, while keeping one eye over her shoulder to spot any pursuers, satisfied when she found no one. .Naruto wanted to shake his head at her naivety, but he refrained. So far her pursuer had kept his distance and avoided detection, but soon that would be unnecessary as there was an alley barely 10 yards in front of her.

The perfect place to pop a bullet in the back of someone's head.

But the man still wasn't interested in moving towards her.

A minivan cruising along the road caught his eye, without a number plate.

And suddenly it all fell into pieces.

This wasn't an assassination.

It was a kidnapping.

He cursed himself for his stupidity. How could he have missed this? Thinking quickly he decided on a course of action.

"Excuse me miss!" He shouted in English and was grateful at having gotten her attention, as she turned to him, her eyes widening in recognition. He wasn't disappointed to see the look of surprise on the man's face either.

Running up to the bewildered woman, he held out a handkerchief.

"I think you dropped this in the restaurant."

"That don't belong to me." She replied in heavily accented and broken English, but Naruto wasn't paying any attention to her. By hailing her in the middle of the street, he had momentarily attracted the attention of the entire street for a few precious seconds. If they moved to kidnap her now too many people would remember. They wouldn't simply remove an entire street full of witnesses even if they could do it..._probably._

He watched with some satisfaction as he saw the unlicensed minivan take a turn and move away. The man had vanished too. He had foiled their plans... for now.

"I may know someone who can help you find the man you're looking for." Naruto muttered in Spanish. The woman's eyes widened at this claim by a teenager.

"Who are you?"

Shoving his hands in his pockets he shrugged and gave here a smile.

"I am your new best friend."

**Well there you have it folks the first of many since the mini hiatus. I said that I wouldn't keep you guys waiting long and I am a man of my word, so don't forget to drop a line. Until next time.**


	16. The Lost Bandit Arc Chapter 2: Dilemma

**A/N:- ok guys here I am with another chapter of Project Konoha. So far so good. Anyway, one query which I forgot to address in the last chapter was Namikaze541's. In response to which I will say, that no Naruto wont turn black-headed permanently. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the new chapter, and please do leave me some reviews.**

**********The Lost Bandit Arc Chapter 2: Dilemma**

Anko loved weekends. With what her job entailed, it was a welcome break. She could just kick back, relax over a cup of coffee and unwind. Even though she loved her work, the last few weeks had been crazy to say the least and she relished this opportunity.

A part of her wanted to work on the few leads that she had uncovered, but she wasn't in the mood right now.

Part of the reason was Naruto.

Their last meeting had shaken her up.

What on Earth had Iruka gotten himself into?

The fact that Iruka was involved with people who created child assassins had shaken her resolve for the first time since she had started digging into his death.

Then there was Naruto himself. No matter how you looked at it, death shadowed the boy. Granted first time his victims were terrorists who were threatening innocents, but the clean precision and efficiency with which he had eliminated the threats and then brushed it off, was something which gave Anko goose pimples.

The second time was even more disturbing. 58 people brutally massacred. Though he did say that he had nothing to do with it, she had a hard time believing him. She had given him the benefit of doubt…. Just.

But that was only because she wasn't sure which scenario she preferred, the fact that her 14 year old neighbor was a murdering psychopath.

Or the fact that there were more like him controlled by a shady organization for who knows what purpose.

When she thought about it, the she almost preferred the first scenario. But since when were things that easy.

Her eyes scanned the newspaper headlines and she suppressed an involuntary groan.

**Police in Dark About Downtown Killings**

She didn't bother to reading the rest of the article. Maybe she should start looking into the symbol Yugao had presented her with. She had avoided going to Naruto about it till now. She wasn't sure who to trust anymore. She wanted to trust Yugao, but things had changed between them, despite their fragile reconciliation.

The fact that she had kept quiet about Naruto so far, just revealed the extent of her paranoia.

She groaned for real when she heard her doorbell ring. She was neither expecting visitors nor did she want them.

Still whoever was at the door was persisting and probably won't leave if not told to expressly do so.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, geez don't get your panties in a twist." Anko muttered as she made her way to the door. "This better be important." She unlocked the latch and opened the door.

"Hello Anko-san."

_**Slam**_

She closed the door with a little more violence than was probably strictly necessary. But could someone blame her. He was the last person she wanted to see at the moment.

"Now you're over-reacting." Came Naruto's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"Go away, I am not in the mood to deal with you today." Anko snarled back.

"Come on Anko, open the door, I swear I will be out of your hair in a minute."

Anko remained silent. Still struggling with herself. The omission of the honorific had thrown her off a bit.

"I have someone with me who could really use your help." Naruto pleaded. "Please Anko."

I am a glutton for punishment, Anko thought to herself as she opened the door to let him in. She was surprised to see him followed by a meek looking woman.

"Thank you." Naruto said leading the woman inside. Anko raised an eyebrow as she stared at the woman and then at him trying to figure any connection. She wasn't having any luck whatsoever.

Eventually she couldn't help herself.

"So who's your friend Naruto?"

Naruto glared at her on hearing the hidden implication in her voice, but refrained from reacting. Anko smirked inwardly. Serves him right. She was still angry at him, and won't let him forget that.

"This is Kate Rovnovski. Kate meet Mitarashi Anko." Naruto introduced them both to each other, speaking in English.

Anko sighed before switching to English herself. The sooner she got this over with, the better it would be.

"Please take a seat Kate." Anko offered.

"Thank you." Kate replied graciously, her soft voice thick with accent.

"Well I suppose I will leave you two to it then. I still have chores to do." Naruto said.

"You're staying." Anko said flatly, her tone indicating she was in no mood for an argument. She wasn't sure herself why she wanted him to stay. Naruto considered fighting before deciding that it probably isn't worth the fight and took a sofa opposite her.

"So, Kate how can I help you?" She turned to the woman.

The woman reached into the back of her pocket and brought out a photograph of a blonde headed man. The photograph was slightly worn so wasn't exactly very clear.

"I am a Spanish national, and this is my husband Demetri. About a month ago my husband came to Japan on some sort of business deal and I haven't heard from him since." She said.

Anko gave Naruto a death glare.

"Can I speak to you in private?" She hissed.

Naruto gave a resigned nod and followed her to the kitchen.

"Why on Earth would you bring her here? Why didn't you take her to the cops?" She asked him once they were alone.

"Look I just foiled a kidnapping attempt on her, she isn't safe. I couldn't leave her alone." Naruto replied.

"All the more reason for you to have taken her to the cops." Anko said in an exasperated tone. "Why do you care anyway? Why couldn't you just leave her alone?" She added.

For a second Anko was sure she saw a flash of pain pass through his face, but next moment she was sure she had imagined it.

"You're a cop aren't you? So why don't you do what you're supposed to do and help her."

Anko folded her arms across her chest.

"Fine." She finally conceded, walking back into the living room.

"Miss Rovnovski, why didn't you go to the police?" Anko said.

"I did." She crossed her fingers as she spoke in a nervous gesture. "But they told me no one with my husband's name arrived in the city, during this time. The embassy was no help either. I just don't know what to do anymore." The girl broke down into sobs as she spoke so her last few words were garbled.

Anko tried to console her by patting her on the back.

"Listen Kate….. Can I call you Kate?" She received a nod in response. "So why did your husband come to Tokyo again?"

"He was here to make some sort of business deal. He never told me what this business deal was about. When I called his work place, they told me that he had taken a leave of absence, and now he has disappeared. A friend of mine helped me get a passport and other means to get here, and now I don't even know what to do anymore." She was on the verge of tears again.

"When I got down from my flight, I was sure I was being followed by a man. But I didn't see him since coming to that restaurant and now I think my husband is in some sort of trouble." She concluded.

There was definitely more to this than met the eye, Anko thought to herself. She stole a glance at Naruto who looked impassive.

So it was one of those guys who led double lives. Maybe he has a mistress. She hated those kinds of jerks. She switched to Japanese when she spoke again.

"I can't believe you brought her here. How can I possibly help her when the other cops can't? It's a case of a runaway husband. And as much as I sympathize with her there isn't much I can do."

"Is that all you think there is to it? I told you she was almost kidnapped. She herself told you that she was being followed, there definitely is more to this and you know it." Naruto protested. "All I am asking you to do is listen to me and maybe, just maybe you will save an innocent life."

Anko considered the formerly blonde-headed but currently black-haired teen in front of her. She didn't know what it was. Maybe it was her residual guilt, from the last time, where if she had taken his warnings more seriously, the bloodbath which followed could have been prevented.

Or maybe it was those blue eyes of his, pleading with her to help. That was something to take note of. He hadn't been this way last time when his friend was hospitalized, and this was a total stranger. That was something which intrigued her all the more.

He was always guarded and stoic when he talked to her. Sometimes he looked irritated with her other times just resigned, but never _this._

"Fine." Anko began in a resigned tone. "I will run this photograph by some of my contacts and if you're right then she is in danger, so we should get her somewhere safe."

Anko pulled out her phone.

"That's strange."

"What is?" Naruto asked.

"My phone has no network." Anko replied.

Naruto pulled out his own to see his phone was suffering from the same affliction. At the same time the power in Anko's apartment went out.

"I think we have a problem." Naruto commented dryly.

Shintani Masamoto was a big name in the underworld circles. It wasn't easy to be a freelance assassin in the Tokyo underworld, but he had safely established himself as the cream of the crop.

In a world where assassins were dime a dozen, he was an artist. Any idiot can fire a weapon and if the money is good enough most will even find the courage and the nerve to do it.

So what set him apart?

It was simply the fact, that he could blend in.

He could and in fact he had killed men in broad daylight in front of witnesses only to get away clean with it.

It was funny how unobservant people could be. Till now his job had usually involved walking up to his targets and put a bullet either at the back of their head or between their eyes.

But for his latest gig his employer had wanted him to kidnap the mark instead of eliminating them.

The woman, Kate Rovnovski, Spanish national, 22 years old dark haired , 5'3. He would have preferred to work alone, or at least use people he had worked with before. But his employer had insisted on using some of his own men.

He had allowed it and now he regretted it. When she had disembarked from her flight, he felt he had hit the jackpot. The woman looked so weak and vulnerable this job would be easy. She had gone straight to the cops after landing, a minor snag. They would get her after she got out, which she did after an hour.

He hadn't counted on his associates' stupidity though. By this time the only reason he was still going through the job after that bit of transgression was because the money was good.

The woman had spotted her tail and then stuck to crowded places, where picking her up wouldn't be easy and then had proceeded to enter the first restaurant she came across.

At this point he had replaced the tail with himself and the woman hadn't suspected a thing, maybe he could salvage the whole situation.

Once she left the restaurant it was only a matter of time, they would pick her up from the streets.

The van was in place and just as they were about to make their move, one of the servers from the restaurant, a kid in his teens ruined everything, calling out to the girl about a forgotten handkerchief of all things.

If he didn't know better he would say that it was a deliberate act on the part of the kid.

The boy had then proceeded to lead the woman to a worn down apartment complex midtown. Now that was highly curious if inconvenient.

So now he was stuck taking desperate measures.

They would be taking her from here.

He had activated the signal scrambler, rendering all cell phones in a 2-block radius useless. He had asked the others to cut the phone land the power lines. He had also assigned a few men to watch the roads leading to this place, just in case someone managed to call for help and they needed to make a quick retreat.

With luck, this shouldn't take long.

"Its done, we are in positions." Came a voice from his radio.

"Good. Prepare to move in."

_Showtime._

__**Lights, camera...cliffhanger. Yeah I am evil sometimes. But lets face it a few of you would have seen this one coming. Anyway thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed or favorited my story. Special thanks to those who have done atleast 2 of the above. Anyway do tell me what you thought about this chapter. Looking forward to more feedbacks.**

**Stay tuned.**

**Until next time**


	17. The Lost Bandit Arc:Of Mice and Men

**A/n:- just the usual. Enjoy,**

**The Lost Bandit Arc:- Of Mice and Men**

Naruto walked to the windows and looked out. Night had fallen. The streets were dark with 2 cars parked 20 yards from the side-walk . He recognized one of them as the same vehicle that was shadowing Kate.

Judging by the capacity of the vehicles there were 6 men which meant three teams of two. One to keep a lookout, the other two for the snatch and grab, which gave them 3 minutes at most. They would have the exits covered, there always were the windows. But as he glanced at Kate's fragile, nervous form he saw that ship sailing away.

"They are here for her." He had miscalculated just how much they would want her. He had assumed wrongly that she would be left alone if he got her inside. Apparently she was important enough to risk breaking into an apartment complex and snatch her from there.

Important enough to snatch her from a complex which housed a cop.

"So, what have we got?" Anko asked him in a resigned tone.

Naruto gave her a rundown of everything he had deduced.

"And this was supposed to be my day off." Anko scoffed lightly. This will get ugly. "And I suppose you don't know why they want you?" She addressed Kate who just shook her head apologetically. "Well, a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do." She cocked her Glock once and put an extra magazine in her back pocket.

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto was staring at her as if she had grown an extra head.

Anko glared right back. "There are armed men coming to kidnap your friend who you so conveniently brought here and ruined my perfectly good weekend, I would say the situation calls for a little firepower."

"You want to risk getting innocent people caught in the cross-fire?"

That really caught Anko off-guard. She should have been the one to have thought of that. But that still didn't help them with their current predicament.

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Anko folded her arms over her chest and looked over at him skeptically.

Naruto took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, but when he opened them, they were hard and unyielding, the eyes of one who would do what needed to be done, the eyes of a killer. Just looking at them sent a chill down Anko's spine but not as much as his next words did.

"We surrender."

* * *

Shintani signaled his partner to cover the exit as he walked towards the entrance of the apartment. His partner couldn't have been more blatant if he was a bull charging a matador.

Not that subtlety was required this late in the game. But lack of finesse always irritated Shintani. On the way he was interrupted by the building supervisor, a blow to the head blew his lights out. A part of him did want to shoot him, but he refrained.

Walking silently into the building, he decided to scout for his target. The stairs were the only way out of the building, cutting off the power ensured that the elevators don't work. So as long as they covered the stairs they should be fine, and they would have the girl with them soon.

The cop who lived here could be a problem though. On the other hand she also made things easier. Killing her would definitely bring more heat than was required and that would have to be the last resort. At the same time it also made pinpointing the location of their target easy.

The complex was the home to Officer Mitarashi Anko of the Criminal Investigation Bureau. The game was dangerous and the stakes were high. It was moments like these which made life worth living.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands above your head." Came a feminine voice from the dark corridor.

Shintani smirked as he gazed upon the attractive profile of Mitarashi Anko holding a gun which was pointed at him at the moment taking cover behind a hallway.

"Ah! Mitarashi-san, it seems you have been expecting us." Shintani said aiming his weapon a little higher.

"Trust me, you guys are about as subtle as elephants on alcohol. Though I will admit you do have me at a disadvantage. What do you want?"

"Well the girl you have been sheltering would be great thank you."

"And pray what interest do you have in her?"

"None, whatsoever, my employers are a different matter though."

"And who are your employers?" Anko asked knowing the reply she would get.

Shintani was beginning to lose his patience now.

"As pleased as I am to be in the company of a beautiful woman as you Mitarashi-san, let me tell you how this is going to go. You might think this is an impasse, but I hold all the cards. You have no hope of getting back up, this place is full of civilians, and if you decide to fight us, there will be casualties, maybe even innocent casualties, now I hate it when people get in the caught in the cross-fire but I can assure you I will hate it a lot less than you will."

Anko looked conflicted before sighing in resignation; she put her weapon down and shouting something in English.

Out came a shy looking girl in a black hoodie, who seemed to be begging and protesting in Spanish, as Anko tried to reassure her.

Shintani gestured to his man who nodded in assent as he went forward and grabbed the girl, who squealed in surprise as he dragged her away.

"Wise decision Mitarashi-san."

"I will be coming after you. Mark my words." Anko said in a low tone.

"For your sake I hope you won't. Trust me you don't want to mess with the people who want her." Shintani retreated in the shadows covering his associate who had the girl as he backed away, gun still trained on Anko in case she decided to pull something.

* * *

Anko's disbelief at what she had allowed to happen was lost in her amazement at the fact that it had actually worked. As soon as she heard the cars go she rushed after them in hopes of getting any ID on the vehicles.

Checking her cell phone she saw that she still had no network. Son of a bitch left a jammer in the area. She had no time to look for it though. She better start moving, time was of the essence.

Walking into her apartment she made her way towards her bedroom as she threw some essentials in a bag.

"We better get you out of here." Anko said to the bewildered looking girl in her room, who nodded mutely as she followed Anko's lead.

Five minutes later Anko and Kate were in Anko's car driving away. Part of her wanted to track them down, but she had more pressing problems at the moment, like the safety of the Spanish girl who had now become her responsibility.

* * *

Mission accomplished. Those were the words ringing in Gen's head at the moment. The boss will be pleased, even if it did take the better part of a day to get one girl. It was all Shintani's fault if truth be told. If Gen had been left in-charge, he would have grabbed her the moment she had gotten off that plane and now they had to grab her from a cop for crying out loud.

But at the end of the day the job was done. They had an hour of ride before they got to the assigned check-point set up by the boss and there was a very attractive Spanish girl sandwiched between him and his friend in the backseat of their car, and the best part was that there was no Shintani to play spoilsport who had chosen to ride in the other car.

Well time to get some pay-off for a hard day's work. She did put up a bit of a fight when they were trying to put her in the car, but a couple of blows to the face had taken all the resistance out of her. The girl had still kept her hood up and seemed resigned to her fate. Her submissive nature was now fueling Gen's lust.

"Look at you all prim and proper like a lady now." Gen taunted her while groping her.

"Come on Gen, cut it out." The driver complained. "You're distracting me."

"Shut your face and drive before I shut it for you Han. Its been a ….." He paused as his fingers found purchase inside the girl's shirt. Something wasn't right. The girl hadn't looked this…_ flat._

"Well well aren't you the naughty boy trying to have his way with little old me?" Came a very dry and sardonic comment from his would be victim.

In his shock he pulled back to reveal short-cropped hair instead of long luscious locks he had been expecting.

This wasn't the girl they had been shadowing. In fact it wasn't a girl at all. But before he could get over his shock, he was too busy choking because of a quick strike to the throat with a finger.

Naruto had to work fast. The element of surprise wouldn't last long and the confined space won't make his job easier either. Already the other man sitting next to him had recovered enough to drive his elbow into his ribs, driving the air out of his lungs.

Blocking a blow to his face he drove an open palm into his antagonist's nose and was rewarded with a satisfying crack, putting him out of the fight.

By now the shotgun rider turned around and brought his gun to Naruto's face. Working fast Naruto redirected the weapon shooting the man who had tried to molest him. A tug at the man's wrist dislocated his bones disarming him.

Snatching the gun he shot the man before turning around and shooting the driver.

* * *

Something was definitely wrong. Yes, the job had been completed, but the satisfaction which usually accompanied it was somehow missing. Shintani just couldn't shake that feeling. Maybe it was the fact that his first attempt at grabbing the girl had failed, or maybe the fact that he had to confront a cop essentially jeopardizing the entire operation.

His situation could have been worse if he had had to kill the cop or if he had picked up the wrong person. When he thought about the latter situation, he scoffed. The girl was speaking Spanish for crying out loud. No, he was sure they got the right girl. Shintani forced himself to relax. Soon he would hand over the girl to his clients, get paid and take a vacation. He certainly could use one.

But before he could continue with his line of thinking, the car they had put the girl in lost control, flipped over the road guard and crashed into a tree by the side of the road.

"Holy shit did you see that?" His driver exclaimed.

"Shut up and stop the car." Shintani was back in his element. Crisis always cleared his head. All his previous doubts vanished as he ordered the men to take positions.

He gestured one of them to take a closer look, while him and the others covered him. The man nodded once grimly acknowledging his orders as he crept closer to the vehicle while calling out tentatively to his friends.

A few seconds later a figure stumbled out of the back door of the car collapsing on the road for a brief second, before righting itself and running off into the woods lining the roads.

A few seconds of tense silence later, Shintani started barking orders again.

"What are you gaping at you idiots? Follow her." He himself went to the car to check on the other occupants of the car as the other three gave pursuit after their intended victim.

The inside of the car might as well have been a mixer grinder. All four occupants were either dead or would be soon.

The driver had a bullet through the head and he probably was the lucky one. The men in the back seats looked a lot worse. One had his neck twisted; the other had a bullet in his chest and was still bleeding from his mouth. Probably meant the bullet had punctured his lung. Bastard drowned in his own blood.

But what intrigued him the most was the position of the guy riding shotgun. Well the position he died in to be frank. He was facing backwards, his death seemed to be as a result of the collision of his head with the windshield.

What the hell had he gotten into? The girl shouldn't have been able to do this. He better follow the men, they will need all the help they could get.

* * *

Anko unlocked the door to the safehouse. It was a few miles into the outskirts of the city. They used these places to secure high-risk witnesses.

Keeping things off the books of course.

It was Ibiki's pet projects. He was of the belief that fewer the people were in on a secret; fewer were the chances of it getting leaked.

She happened to be one of the few people.

Good old paranoid Ibiki. What would she do without him?

Flicking on the lights in the slightly damp and dusty place, Anko grabbed her water bottle and took a long draught, before passing it to the girl. A part of her was worried about Naruto. Despite his deadly skills, Anko just couldn't get past the fact that he was so young. The casual way in which he took Kate's place convinced her even more of his lack of self-preservation.

Is he trying to kill himself?

Shaking herself out of those thoughts she turned to the girl.

"Tell me everything you can tell me about yourself and your husband, and start talking fast. I just risked a life for you, make it worth my while."

The woman took a deep breath before nodding in compliance. "I am the daughter of a Catholic priest from a town a couple of hundred miles south of Madrid. I was a good student and after finishing school was accepted into the Universidad de Oviedo. My parents were so proud. I had a part-time job as a waitress at a bar- restaurant not far from my college to help pay the bills. This is where I met my husband." She paused in her narrative, taking a sip from the water bottle Anko had given her.

"It was the weekend you know. A couple of my male classmates having got drunk misbehaved with me. I am not that kind of girl you see. I have had a good Catholic upbringing and I couldn't sully my father's name. But they were drunk and won't let go of me. That's when Demetri came." As she said that name her face began to glow, and Anko couldn't help a smile at the woman.

"He drove them off. We got talking that night. From the beginning I could tell he was different. He treated me with respect and he made me laugh. Soon we started dating and after a few months we drove down to my parents' where he asked my father's permission to marry me. He refused. So we eloped. "

"We got married soon after, and for a while we were happy. But a few weeks ago, when Demetri got back from work, he seemed…different." Katie paused again, as if not quite sure how to frame her next words. "I couldn't tell you why exactly. But I know him, and he seemed worried. Then one day he comes up to me, takes my hands kisses them and tells me that he is up for a promotion in his job and would have to go to Tokyo for a few weeks, but in the meantime he wanted me to stay at a friend's place so I wouldn't get lonely."

"I argued that I could always stay with my parents, but he wouldn't listen to me and wouldn't explain why I couldn't stay with my parents. That was the first time we fought. I didn't speak to him for a whole day. But before he left he came up to me, asked for forgiveness and told me it would mean a lot to him, if I did this for him." She sighed heavily as she spoke her next words. "And I agreed."

"So, what happened next?" Anko prompted, but before she could get a reply her phone started ringing, interrupting the girl's narrative. Checking the caller id she proceeded to receive the call.

"About time Yugao, tell me you have something for me."

"The man is Anton Walker. Born to a Japanese mother and a Russian father, freelance assassin ,was in the Interpol's most wanted list for a few years because of his habit of taking down high-profile targets. His last assignment was to take down the scientist Yuri Makarov, a pioneer of sorts in replenish able and clean fuel technology which he failed to execute. Dropped off the grid soon after and was presumed dead." Yugao told her friend.

Realization hit Anko like a ton of bricks.

Yuri Makarov was attending a Science Conference in the city.

* * *

Naruto had to admit, he hadn't exactly thought things through when he went through with this plan. He was surprised it worked as well as it did to be frank. Putting himself in place of the girl was pretty ingenious… and stupid.

Getting yourself captured was a good method of infiltration if you knew your enemy. He was flying totally blind however. Flying blind during infiltration was a great way to get your brains blown out.

Exactly what he had hoped to achieve with this stunt was something which escaped even him.

Not that his current situation was any better. He was tired and hurt and right now trying to lose his pursuers in the jungle.

Well, just one pursuer actually now. He had taken care of the first three.

They never saw him coming. To be fair he got the drop on them from above. Trees make great spots for recon and ambush after all. Even with the numerical disadvantage, he didn't have problems dispatching them.

The last one might be a problem though. Unlike the others this one knew what he was doing. And in his current condition he wasn't sure he could take him out even if he caught him by surprise.

He still had the gun he had managed to snag from the kidnappers. The magazine only had two bullets left. Exactly what he needed.

Removing the silencer from the weapon, he fired a shot in the air.

The loud report of the Glock echoed through the woods. Feeling movement 10 yards to his right Naruto broke into a sprint.

As he expected the man was good. He had taken cover behind a tree and started shooting at him. He would have been in serious trouble if not for the trees.

Ducking and weaving between the trees he closed the distance between him and his adversary.

Just as his opponent was in the process of changing his magazine kicking off a tree to the man's right Naruto fired the only bullet left in his weapon. The bullet grazed the man's wrist forcing him to drop his weapon. Still in mid-air Naruto dropped his gun and snapped a kick at the man's chest forcing the air out of his lungs.

Despite the surprise the man managed to compensate by leaning back reducing the effectiveness of the kick. Naruto landed on his feet. Crouching down he closed the distance again, but this time the man was ready and he snapped an open palm at his face forcing him to abandon his attack. Naruto attempted a leg sweep but the man jumped over it and snapped a kick of his own. Naruto absorbed the kick on his guard and countered with a fist to the face.

This went on for quite a while, none of the fighters able to get any decisive advantage over the other, when finally the man caught hold of Naruto's fist. Pulling him towards him he drove an elbow in his face dazing him in the process, and the proceeded to place him in a chokehold.

Naruto was on the verge of panicking as the man cut off his oxygen supply as he clawed uselessly at the man's hands.

Just when he was on the verge of passing out he managed to poke him in the eye with his finger getting him to loosen his hold just enough for him to snap his head back and hit his nose with the back of his head. Snarling in pain the man let go completely, leaving Naruto gasping and wheezing as he inhaled the life nurturing air.

Once the man recovered charged Naruto again only to receive a fistful of dust to the face, the temporary loss of sight cost him dearly as without giving him a chance to recover Naruto drove his knee into his solar plexus followed by a quick strike to the back of the neck put his adversary down for good.

A splitting headache and a sore body were the things which greeted Shintani when he woke up. Must have had a rough night. He was sure he must have enjoyed it. He didn't remember having a worse hangover.

Then something felt wrong. The bed was a little too _uncomfortable _for his tastes. That was when the events leading to his predicament came flooding back to him causing him to snap his eyes open, to be met with the hard, icy blue stare of his captor, who then proceeded to speak.

"You and I are gonna have a long chat."

**Well another day another chapter. Wishing all my readers a belated merry christmas and an early Happy new year. On a completely unrelated note, was anyone else disappointed at the uneventfulness of of 21st December. Hell that was supposed to be doomsday wasnt it? Not that I was expecting or wanted the end of the world, but hey after all the hype you would have expected something. Oh well review favorite follow, the usual. Until next time.**


	18. The Lost Bandit Arc: Mousetrap

**Okay I am back with a new chapter. Despite my best efforts it isn't easy uploading every week consistently. But here I am. Anyway thanks to Namikaze541, Iamnarutofan2200 and Agnidivya for the reviews. You guys are awesome. So without further ado welcome to the penultimate chapter of The Lost Bandit**

**The Lost Bandit Arc: Mousetrap**

Shit shit shit shit Anko chanted in her head. The implications of what she had just found out were staggering. An assassin was in the city to finish an old job. It was funny how every time she had blown off Naruto's concern about something it had invariably blown up into something way over her head.

Well it would have been funny if it hadn't been so annoying.

At the moment she was trying her best to resolve the situation she had run into.

By calling Ibiki. She had explained the situation to him. Ibiki just listened silently the whole time without asking questions about how and why she came across the information.

She was grateful for that. She didn't know what she would have done, if had started to grill her.

"So, you think Yuri Makarov will be targeted during the conference?" He questioned her.

"Yes that's what I said."

"This Anton Walker is who you suspect to be the would be assassin?"Ibiki confirmed. "Fine anything else?"

"One more thing his preferred method of assassination is taking them out from a distance. Usually 800 yards. So, I would start scoping the buildings for snipers."

"Got it. The conference starts tomorrow. I need you here running point on this."

It was a testament to the trust Ibiki had in her that he was deferring to her judgement without questioning her. But something didn't sit right with her. She couldn't put her finger to it but she kept feeling she was missing something. That scared her. Ibiki's trust was one of the few things she still treasured as it was she had not been forthcoming about the whole Naruto situation with him.

"Fine, one more thing I may have the Anton's wife with me. But I think she is in danger."

"I will send over a patrol unit to you, bring the wife with you. I will get her into protective custody." Ibiki said.

Naruto watched his victim slowly regaining consciousness. He had propped him up against a tree. He had used the man's tie to bind his hands behind his back.

"You and I are gonna have a long chat." Naruto said.

It took the man a while to get his bearings before he realized the predicament he was in. He tested the bonds before giving a resigned sigh and settling down, his hand inching towards his ankle.

"Looking for this?" Naruto said pointing the man's gun at him. "I got it off your foot while you were out."

The man glared at him for a while before breaking into a chuckle.

"Get younger every year." He shook his head.

Seeing Naruto's puzzled expression he elaborated. "You are the boy from the restaurant. I would have never expected you to be a killer. You had me fooled kid. Even when you foiled our first attempt to take the girl, I just blamed it on bad timing and the girl's luck. Well played. The cries in Spanish were a nice touch by the way. Totally threw me off."

"What's your name?" Naruto asked the man ignoring him.

"Shintani Masamoto."

"Why do you want the girl Shintani?"

"I am just a hired gun kid. Do you think my employer would tell me?" He said rhetorically. Naruto cocked the weapon and aimed the gun at his knee. He got the satisfaction of seeing his victim's eyes widen for a second before he started babbling.

"I am telling the truth kid. Shooting me wouldn't change that." Of course Naruto knew he was telling the truth. But it was essential for him to maintain the fear factor. He couldn't have him believe he could lie his way out.

"Who hired you?"

"I don't know." Naruto fired a shot three inches from his left ear into the tree causing the splinters into his face causing Shintani to flinch.

"Next one goes into your knee cap."

"Look I really don't know who hired me, but judging by the goons I had to work with, it probably was the Golden Dragon." He spoke rapidly.

The wheels in Naruto's head started turning. What would the Yakuza want with a Spanish girl? Of course they wanted Kate either as ransom or leverage. He was betting on the latter. Patting the jacket he had taken from Kate to better sell his role, he brought out the photograph of her husband that she had been carrying.

"What can you tell me about him?" He queried.

"Never seen him in my life." Shintani stated resignedly. Naruto checked his face for any signs of deception and found none. Maybe he wasn't asking the right questions. "He came here nearly a month ago, what can you tell me about the underworld activity around that time?"

Shintani scrunched his eyebrows together at this deep in thought.

"Don't know if this is relevant but there were rumors of an assassin being hired for a job. Some Russian I think. He was here as a favor and a part of a deal." Shintani said.

"What deal?" Naruto's curiosity was now perked. Maybe he had stumbled onto something.

"I don't know the details but it seems that the Bravta and the Yakuza are working out some kind of deal and this assassination was supposed to be a part of it. The Yakuza are providing the logistics if that's the case."

"So I suppose you don't know who the target is?" Naruto said.

"Afraid not. Though I can tell you that the target is in the city participating in the Science Conference whose venue is the City Hall."

Naruto wasn't convinced too many variables. Kate's husband was an assassin hired to execute a job thousands of miles from his home. Why use him? It's not as if Japan didn't have its share of hitmen. The Yakuza was one of the most dreaded criminal organizations in the world after all. If they were cooperating why not let the Yakuza finish the job?

"What did they do to you kid?" Shintani's voice broke through Naruto's thoughts.

Naruto simply raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I have seen my share of hitmen and assassins in my life, but I haven't seen one as young as you or as efficient. So, tell me kid what exactly did they do to you?"

Naruto managed a wry smile at this. "You don't want to know."

"So, are you going to kill me now?" Shintani said in a tone more appropriate for discussing the weather than his own impending murder.

"What do you think?"

"I would if I was in your shoes." Shintani said with casual nonchalance.

At this Naruto stood up and pointed the gun at Shintani's head who closed his eyes in anticipation of the bullet that would end it all.

"I know." Came the soft voice of his adversary followed by the loud report of the gun. Shintani felt no pain. He was grateful for that. Maybe this was what death felt like. Maybe this was what painless death felt like. Why could he still smell the forest though? When he opened his eyes he realized he was sprawled across the ground. Hastily checking his body for wounds, he was surprised to find none, when he finally got up he saw no sign of his adversary. Sighing once he collapsed again.

Naruto hastily ran all the way back to the road. Walking up to the now unoccupied car, he unlocked the door and got in, immediately finding what he was looking for. The GPS. Switching it on he saw he was about 4 miles from the appointed location.

Five minutes later Naruto was driving a hotwired car making his way to the .Taking the phone he had grabbed from one of his victim he dialed Anko.

"Mitarashi Anko." Came her voice.

"Anko-san it's me."

"Naruto? Thank god, where are you?" Anko sounded relieved.

"Don't have time for that. Kate's husband is an…"

"Assassin I know."

"So, does that mean you know who he is after?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, we know and we are working on it. You can stop whatever it is you're doing now and go home." Anko said after a pregnant pause as if wondering how much she should be telling him.

"Fine."

"….."

"You're not going home are you?"

"Gotta go, I will call you later."

"Damn you Naruto."

Naruto flicked the phone off and threw it out of the car all the while thinking about his next course of action. Anko had her leads he had his. He would just check out the place where they would have taken Kate. That's it. That was as far as he was going to involve himself, and then he would call the cops.

He cut the call. He really annoyed her at times. They were reviewing all the security protocols at the moment. A supposedly dead assassin coming back to life to finish an old job had created quite a stir. Apparently that wasn't the only flight risk target in the city either.

Now that they were cooperating with the Intelligence agencies and the Interpol they had come into some new intel. Vladimir Lemnovsky a high level enforcer of the Russian mob was also rumored to be in the city.

He was traveling under an alias, but the Interpol had been monitoring his movements. Intelligence claimed he was in the city to work on some sort of deal between the Russian Bravta and the Japanese Yakuza similar to one they had with the Spanish Organized crime units in the 80's.

At the moment Anko was feeling a little sorry for Kate. The woman was way in over her head. Her only crime was falling in love with the wrong man.

She could empathize.

At the moment she was being interrogated behind closed doors by Ibiki himself. A fate she wouldn't wish on any but her worst enemies. But Ibiki was the master and could glean out intelligence out of seemingly obscure information.

And all she had wished for was a regular weekend.

Naruto parked the car 500 meters from the destination, choosing to walk the rest of the way. If he followed the directions correctly he had to get off the road and follow the path into the woods.

A hundred yards from his destination he decided to scale a tree and scout the area. The building where Kate would have been held was an unimpressive one-storey concrete structure. What intrigued Naruto was the lack of any guards around the building. Had he arrived at the wrong place?

To be frank it was a strange place to hold a hostage. Deciding to take a closer look, Naruto silently crept towards the building, pulling the hood of his jacket over his head.

As he came closer to the building he found the reason for the lack of guards around the building.

It was because they were dead. He found two men sprawled in front of the house, bullets puncturing their heads. He could hear muffled voices coming from the inside the room. With his back against the wall Naruto tried to listen in to the conversation taking place inside.

"Where is my wife?" Came a low but angry voice.

"I don't know what's keeping them? She was supposed to be here by now." Answered a quivering voice.

"Call them." The angry voice ordered again.

"I have tried, but I can't reach them."

A choking laughter filled the air.

"You still don't get it do you? You should never have betrayed your brethren and now because of you your wife will die, Anton."

"Not before you." Naruto chanced a glance over the window and confirmed his suspicions. There were three men inside the room. Two were lying on the floor while the last one was standing over them, gun in hand with a silencer attached. It was indeed Kate's husband Demetri, who had been called Anton.

"You do know this is a trap right?" The man taunted.

"What do you mean?" Demetri/Anton sounded puzzled.

"She was kidnapped to lure you out. She was your one weakness, one you failed to hide. So much so that even without her, we have you right where we want you." The man laughed mirthlessly as he spoke.

At the same time Naruto's acute hearing picked up car engines running in the distance. They would be here within a thirty seconds. He swore under his breath.

A couple of muted shots were enough to tell Naruto that Demetri/Anton had just shot his captives dead.

As Naruto got up he found himself staring down the barrel of a Glock followed by the cold gray eyes of the assassin.

"I know where Kate is." Naruto said.

This one statement made Anton hesitate just enough for him to delay pulling the trigger for a split second. That split second saved his life as he found himself tackled out of the way of a flurry of bullets fired from sub-machine guns back into the building.

Grabbing Anton Naruto pulled him away from the gunfire as both of them took cover behind the walls.

"We have to get out of here." Anton said grimly apparently deciding to trust Naruto for now. "My weapon is no match for their semi-automatics."

"We should run into the woods then. They shouldn't be able to follow us in their cars. If we force them on foot we will have a better chance." Naruto offered, while looking around him searching for anything he could use. Apart from a can of gasoline and futon, the room was bare. Not something he could use to escape. He would have preferred tree jumping, but he doubted his companion could follow. Time to improvise.

His eyes came to rest on the table top. Acting quickly he snapped off all four legs of the table with well placed kicks.

The back of the house had a slope with pine needles lining the forest floor "Help me with the door."

Anton nodded and both of them kicked the back door open and took off deeper into the woods. As they approached the slope Naruto placed the table top down and shouted "Climb on." Anton looked a little bewildered before a bullet which barely missed his left ear made his decision for him.

Like a couple of kids sliding down a snowy slope using a sleigh, Naruto and Anton slid down the forest floor dodging trees and bullets as they went.

Forty minutes later Naruto and Anton's desperate run had slowed to a brisk walk.

Naruto didn't flinch when Demetri suddenly stopped in front of him pointing his gun at his forehead.

"You have a funny way of showing gratitude to someone who just saved your life." Naruto said dryly.

"Excuse my manners then, it's just that I have a hard time trusting people I don't know. You know what they say about strangers." Anton replied. "Anyway where is my wife?"

"She is safe, in police custody."

Anton sighed in relief and lowered his gun.

"Thank you for saving my life. When you see Kate, tell her that I am sorry." He bowed once expressing his gratitude.

"You don't have to do this you know?" Naruto said.

Anton's eyes hardened. "No, this needs to be done. Don't follow me." He turned on his heels and walked away.

Naruto smiled as he himself made his way in the opposite direction. He didn't need to follow Anton to know where he was going.

But he had to make a few calls first.

**Well all done. see ya.**


	19. The Lost Bandit Arc: Turning Point

**A/N:- Alright friends welcome to the finale of the Lost bandit arc. Naa... Got nothing else. Enjoy.**_  
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**The Lost Bandit Arc:**

_He was seated in a white walled room, his hands folded over the table waiting, a glass wall in front of him. . He had been here for almost an hour now. But he knew it was all part of procedure. It was regulation after a mission._

"_Initiating security and psyche protocols, are you ready subject?" A cool, detached voice came from the intercom._

"_Yes, ma'am." He replied._

"_Audio protocols initiated. State your designation."_

"_Subject 9 reporting for post mission evaluation."_

"_Give the appropriate response for the audio stimuli." The voice instructed._

"_Building."_

"_Exit."_

"_Crowd."_

"_Camouflage."_

"_Trap"_

"_Ambush."_

_This continued for twenty odd minutes, before the procedure switched to visuals. This usually involved him being shown a series of pictures and photographs and sometimes he had to figure some obscure relation between them, other times he had to arrange them in some specified order._

_It was another hour before it came to an end and he was told to get up._

_When he left the room a woman approached him._

"_The Leader will see you now."_

_He nodded once and allowed himself to be escorted, and soon he found himself standing in front of the man._

_Getting down on one knee he directed his gaze downward._

"_At ease." Leader said. He got to his feet but kept his gaze down._

"_Report." He was commanded._

_Following his orders he briefed his Leader on the mission. Satisfied he nodded once and dismissed him after handing him a folder._

"_This file has the details of your next mission."_

"_Proceed towards the Processing Station Subject 9." The woman who had escorted him there instructed him._

_He simply nodded once._

_The Processing Station was designed like the PET scan centre of a hospital. He found Iruka waiting there for him._

"_Hello 9." Iruka greeted him._

"_Sensei." He acknowledged._

"_How was your mission?" He asked guardedly as he worked on the equipment. _

"_Satisfactory."_

"_And how did you feel afterwards?"_

_The question confused him. It had been a year since his first mission. His breakdown was still fresh in his mind. He had gotten better with time though. Now he completed his missions more efficiently… without incident. After every mission Iruka would pose this question to him as if looking for something. _

_With time, the better he got, the more distant Iruka grew. But he never stopped asking this question. It felt that the man was almost…. disappointed with him and he couldn't tell why?_

"_I felt nothing_." _He had stripped down to his undergarments and was now lying on a metal table as electrodes were attached to his forehead, getting him ready to be processed._

_Iruka nodded. He looked resigned, like a man fighting for a cause he knew was lost. He didn't say another word while he was processed. _

_It was a procedure to wipe the memory of his last mission. It wasn't explained why he needed to processed. But he had never questioned them either. His job was to follow orders, not question them._

_His muscles seized as he felt hundreds of volts of electricity pass through his brain._

_After what felt like an eternity the Processing ended. Fifteen minutes of recovery time later he was again made to undergo a series of physical and mental tests._

_Once he was done Iruka came up to him and handed him the folder Leader had given him, containing details of his next mission._

_For a moment Iruka looked like he wanted to say something, before pursing his lips and exiting the room._

_Getting dressed he opened the folder to study his next target…._

* * *

Naruto was trying to make a call from one of the petrol stations he had found on the side of the highway.

It was 3:30 in the morning. After leaving Anton to go his way Naruto had hiked 15 miles through the forest to hit the road and another 5 miles after that before he came across a public phone. He could have hit the road sooner but it was easier to lose pursuers in a forest than the open roads.

The man behind the counter was throwing him suspicious glances. He didn't blame the guy. He probably didn't look very presentable at the moment. The activities of the previous day had left him… unpresentable to put it mildly. He had lost one of his shoes, and the other was in tatters. He had dried blood on his face, and his eyes probably held their usual sleep deprived look.

Looking at the man he estimated he was about 3 minutes from calling the cops on him.

Ironic… Considering he was calling one.

"Hello." Anko answered her phone on the third ring.

"Anko-san…" Naruto began.

"Why am I not surprised?" Anko interrupted him. Naruto could tell she was probably rubbing her eyes right now. "What do you want?"

"I know where Anton is going?" Naruto said.

"How did you know his name?" Anko said suspiciously.

"I met him." Naruto replied matter of factly.

"…. Son of a bitch. Of course you met him. Let me guess you met him on the way to your morning run, did you? Two guys from the same line of work comparing notes was it? The let me guess you decided to get yourself involved in a highway shootout…." Anko kept ranting for 30 seconds without a break.

"Are you done?" Naruto said once she paused.

"Yes, I really needed to get that out of the system."

"Good. Cause I know who Anton's target is."

"We have been over this Naruto, we know where he is striking."

"If you're assuming his target is in the conference you're wrong."

"How do you know all this?" Anko sounded more mystified than pissed.

"I can tell you, but that would take time we don't have."

"Fine so what do you want?" She asked.

"The Yakuza and The Bravta are making some sort of deal today. I need to know where they are meeting."

This statement was followed by a brief bout of silence. Just when Naruto was beginning to think Anko wouldn't comply.

"Fine I will do what I can." She told him.

Five minutes later Naruto was on the road again. He really needed a change of clothes.

* * *

Anton was standing on a 30 storey building 800 yards from his target. The weather was good with negligible wind. The time was 8:00 PM. This would be his last mission.

Who was he fooling when he had started thinking that he could just walk away? No one walked away. Ever. Well no one could blame him for not trying.

And try he did. He was something of a rising star in the business of freelance assassins. He had begun well enough. Taking out high-end targets was a specialty of his.

The job was exciting, the money was good.

Then everything changed.

He met Kate. One minute he was planning for his next job and the very next he was chatting with a sweet if clumsy girl. He didn't look back after that.

He abandoned his last mission, faked his death, even took an honest job. All for her.

Love had a crazy way of changing things that's for sure. He never imagined himself falling in love. But what surprised him more was the fact that Kate loved him just as much.

But he had gotten sloppy and they found him. Wanted him to finish the job he had abandoned.

The dream had shattered and reality had hit him like a sledgehammer.

He had played along. What choice did he have?

They told him he would be left alone once he finished this job.

He knew better.

After making arrangements to keep Kate safe he had come to Japan, to prepare for the job.

Scouting the city, choosing vantage points, logistics and all that. Just what was expected from a professional.

But all the time he was looking for a way out.

It came when he realized that Vladimir Kauffner a high level enforcer of the Bravta was coming to Japan to negotiate a deal with the Yakuza. Also the man who had tracked him down for this job.

He had begun planning an assassination. Just not the one they wanted him to carry out. But fate it seemed was against him.

His wife got herself to Japan, and soon his enemies were drawn to her like a bunch of rabid dogs over a piece of meat.

It was only luck that kept her out of their clutches till now.

That's why he had to end it. Today.

He had the target in his sights. He assembled his Dragunov with the efficiency of a surgeon.

The convoy was in sights. He will have a small window when the target gets out of his car and gets inside the building. If he didn't get the shot then, all of this would have been for nothing.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Anton spun around pulling out a gun and aiming it at the source of the voice.

He was surprised to see the same kid who had helped him just the night before.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now where you stand."

"Haven't we been over this? I am not your enemy Anton." Naruto replied calmly.

Anton didn't have time for this. The window was approaching.

"You said my wife is safe, that's all that matters right now."

"Yes, she is. For now. But what exactly do you hope to gain by doing this?"

Anton remained silent.

"Clearly you haven't thought this through."

Anton hesitated. He had planned to go out all guns blazing taking as many of his foes to hell as he could with him. His death would ensure his wife's safety. But he didn't plan on telling the boy that.

The convoy was slowing down, he should be getting ready with the shot but something about the boy's cold gaze had him frozen in his place.

He was the one who was armed, then why was he the one who was feeling so vulnerable?

"This is the only way to ensure her safety. And if she is with the cops, she knows who I really am. This way is the best for everyone." He argued

"What if I told you there is another way." Naruto countered.

This caught Anton off-guard. But he wasn't buying it yet. The cars were almost there. Any moment now.

"Even if there was, Kate probably hates me right now. I am a killer. She deserves better than that."

"You should have thought of that before you married her, genius. Just because she knows about you gives you no right to walk away. So why don't you man up for a change and take a chance instead of throwing your life away."

Anton was still conflicted. The convoy had stopped and his target had gotten out.

"I am doing this for her. They threatened her."

"The way I see it, it all comes down to the fact if you hate them more than you love her?"

* * *

It was Monday. School had just let-off and Naruto was dragged to the arcade with Kiba. The gaming complex had opened a week back. Kiba was unable to go during the weekend.

"Are you sure you have never played before?" Kiba said exasperatedly as Naruto's character knocked his character out for the tenth time straight.

"No Kiba I have never played the game in my life. I still don't see what you like about this."

"What do you mean? Streetfighter is the most awesome arcade game of all time."

"Maybe its just too violent for me." Naruto said, dropping the console and moving towards the exit, Kiba reluctantly followed.

"Ino's staring at you." Kiba told him falling into a step beside him.

"She's here? What do you think she wants?" Naruto feigned ignorance. Of course he knew. It was obvious the platinum blonde wanted to talk to him. They hadn't talked since Takeshi's funeral.

Kiba nodded. "I think you should just go talk to her. She looks like she has something on her mind. Who knows maybe she wants to ask you out."

Seeing Kiba smirk Naruto simply shook his head at his friend's idiocy.

"I am sure that's not it." At least he hoped not.

"Yeah you're probably right. You're not her type anyway. She likes older bad boys and you are anything but..." Kiba said with bitterness lacing his tone. Understandable cause it was one of the bad boys she dated resulted in him spending nearly a week in the ICU ward. He was still trying to let go of his grudge, since the guy responsible was dead.

"Yeah I am anything but." Naruto sighed. "I better go see what her deal is?"

Ino was sipping a coke in the food court outside the arcade. Naruto waved and she tentatively waved back.

"Hey. What's up?" Naruto asked her.

"Hey Naruto. Take a seat." Naruto pulled up a chair as they sat in awkward silence.

Five minutes later Naruto couldn't take it anymore.

"Listen I would love to stay here and chat, but I got work, so why don't you come by Ichiraku's later. I will save you a table." Naruto offered.

"Yes, of course. I will see you there then." Ino smiled.

When Naruto reached his apartment, he found his Super smiling stupidly at him. Telling him he had visitors with a suggestive tone. That man was weird.

Sure enough his apartment was unlocked. He needed to have words with that man about invasion of privacy.

When he entered he wasn't really surprised to see Anko rummaging through his food cupboard.

"You really need to shop more Gaki." She said without turning around.

"I wasn't expecting you Anko-san."

"And yet here I am. You owe me some answers kid. And if you give me shit about breaking into your house I am going to punch your face." She said helping herself to a sandwich she had made with the meager contents of Naruto's supplies.

No worries there. It would have been hypocritical of him if he did complain about her breaking into his apartment, considering he did the same not long ago. At least she had the courtesy of warning him via the super.

"So, you have Anton in custody I suppose." Naruto enquired.

"Yes, I suppose we have you to thank for that." Anko admitted grudgingly. "They are being moved to witness protection as we speak. The guy is a gold mine of information, and with him willing to cooperate Interpol can put the lid on several cases and even open new ones on some of the more prominent crime bosses across the globe."

"Well then I suppose congratulations are in order." Naruto said.

"Why did you do it kid?" Anko asked.

"Well I am a nice guy. Ever thought of that."

"Maybe, but there is more to this than that. Why did this one feel personal? You were very insistent on helping this woman. I am guessing she reminded you of someone. A friend perhaps?" Anko carefully studied him for any signs of reaction. But Naruto's face remained neutrally blank.

"We found the bodies of 8 men near the outskirts of the city. Some of them were the kidnappers." Anko said.

Red flags raised in Naruto's brain. He had only killed the four in the van he was carried in.

"I suppose I will take care of this one." Anko continued and Naruto nodded his head once acknowledging her help. "Don't make a habit of it though."

"I won't." Naruto said.

"Don't make promises you can't keep kid." Anko smiled, a hint of sadness tainting it. She sort of understood why Naruto helped Anton. He came from the same world as Naruto after all. Naruto was trying to turn over a new leaf. Maybe by helping Anton get a happy ending, somewhere he was hoping for one of his own.

Figuring that was all she was going to be getting out of him, she decided to address the real reason she came here.

Reaching into her pocket she took out the card with the leaf that Yugao had given her.

"What can you tell me about this?" She asked him.

Naruto studied the card for a second before saying.

"Never seen it in my life."

What? Anko was dumbstruck. She had hoped Naruto had some answers, but here he had just admitted he didn't.

"You aren't lying to me are you?"

"No, I am not Anko-san."

Maybe he was lying but she had no way to be sure. But just maybe….

"It belonged to Iruka. Found it among his belongings."

The slight narrowing of his eyes and tightening of fists was enough to tell Anko that he was being honest. Iruka was a soft spot for him too. Even then she would have missed the signs completely if she hadn't been looking for them. But she was almost sure now that he was telling the truth.

After dropping that bit of bomb-shell she began to walk out.

"She wasn't a friend…" Those words stopped Anko dead in her tracks. She slowly turned around to face him. His eyes held remorse and guilt the kind she had never seen in her life. "She was a target."

* * *

_He walked to his room, file in hand, studying his next target. A girl approximately his age. 4'11, 90 pounds. Details of her family, friends, school down to her diet and hobbies, everything was covered . It was the first time he had a target this young though. He studied the photograph last. A round, pale face, bangs falling over her forehead, large lavender eyes. _

_His eyes finally rested on her name._

_Hyuga Hinata._

**Aaaaaaannnnnnddddd we are done. So don't forget to tell me what you think. Thanks again to all who have favorited, followed and reviewed the story. Criticisms are also welcome. Anyway... until next time.**

**Peace out.**


	20. The Cloaked Viper :- Loose ends

**Hey guys. How have you been? It has been some time since I last updated Project Konaha. Part of the reason was my other story Shinobi diaries and the other was that I hit sort a crossroads of sorts with this tale. And as seriously as I take my story and my readers I wanted to do it right. Hopefully I have done justice to this chapter. Anyway so on with the story.**_  
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**The Cloaked Viper :- Loose ends **

_Location:- Vlore Sea Port, Albania_

_Date:- 15 December, 2010_

_Time:-11:05 PM_

_The two men dragged him, in his half-drugged state along the docks to the ship and threw him in roughly with the others._

_"Is that everyone?" The man-in-charge addressed the two._

_"Yes, I think that's it." Came the reply._

_"Good then get ready, we depart in 15."_

_As soon as the men departed he tried to sit latest mission was to take down a human trafficking ring. He had successfully integrated himself with some illegal immigrants a couple of weeks ago who were expected to be targeted by the traffickers. Last night they finally made their move. He had allowed himself to be drugged when they came for them. He was still under the effect of drugs, fortunately he had backup for this mission. He struggled to his feet and looked around the overcrowded room, which was actually the storage area of the ship. They hadn't bothered to tie them up. Understandable too, as the others were still unconscious. _

_Unfortunately for the traffickers he wasn't like the rest._

_Spitting out a transmitter from his mouth, that he had managed to hide in his pharynx, he activated it, a red blinking light told him that his partner was tracking the signal._

_Phase 2 complete. He thought to himself. Initiating phase 3._

_Scanning the walls he tried to find the ventilation ducts. Sticking to the walls of the chambers like a spider, he started scaling the walls in the semi-darkness. He had to work fast. But the drugs in his system still impeded him. The duct was 2X4 window just about b__ig enough for him to get in, _guarded by a wire mesh not grilled just as expected. 

_A couple of well-placed kicks got rid of that obstacle._

_Moving fast he followed the maze of the duct. He had studied the blueprints of the ship and if he followed the plans he should soon reach the ship control room._

_The other end too was guarded by meshed wire. Peering into the room where the vent led to, he was relieved to find that he was in the right place. Usually he would have been more prudent, but he was running out of time, the ship would be leaving anytime now. _

_Kicking the mesh, he slid onto the floor, landing not as gracefully or quietly as he would have liked. Thankfully the room was empty._

_Grabbing hold of a radio from the control panel, he set it to the required frequency._

_"Are you in position?" He spoke into the radio._

_"Affirmative." Came the cool reply from the other end. "Get ready they are coming."_

_Right on cue, the door to the control bay flew open, a portly man rushing in, waving a Beretta at him._

_"Get down on your knees and put your hands in the air." The man ordered him. He was soon followed by two more men. The same ones who had loaded him onto the ship. _

_He quietly complied._

_"Its just a kid?"_

_"Didn't we just load him now?"_

_"Impossible. He should be out just like the others."_

_"I don't..." Whatever the man was about to say was lost courtesy of a sniper bullet exiting his brain._

_Taking that as his cue, he snapped his arm up, disarming the man of his Beretta and putting a bullet through his brain in the same motion. In the span of a second all three men in the room were dead. Two taken out by the unseen sniper._

_He grabbed the radio again._

_"I am moving to the bay." _

_"You have six hostiles coming your way." _

_"Can you take them?"_

_"Two of them."_

_"Fine, proceed to extraction." He instructed his partner. _

_When he entered the bay area, he saw the remaining four were cowering behind the deck, the demise of two of their comrades putting them on guard against their unseen adversary. Walking rapidly he opened fire on them, catching one of them in the forehead, missing the other by inches. The drugs in his system affecting his performance. He took aim again, but the men were prepared now. Turning around they retaliated with a few shots of their own. Rolling away, he dodged the projectiles._

_They stopped firing after a while. He knew if it came to attrition he won't last long. He had to change the rules of the game of he had any chance of surviving this._

_To make matters worse he only had one shot left now. He had to make it count. There was a circuit breaker not five feet from where his opponents had taken cover. Focusing himself, he fired his last shot. _

_The circuit breaker blew up, showering the men in a burst of sparks causing them to flinch._

_That was all the opening he needed. Rushing forward he closed the distance rapidly, he snapped a kick at the head of the first man. The next one moved quickly to bring his gun at him, but he was faster and before he could react, he grabbed the man by his vest and put him in the way of his third adversary's bullets. Snatching the gun from his now lifeless hands he quickly fired off a couple of rounds into the third man and turned around to face his first opponent, expecting him to have recovered by now, but was now only greeted by his lifeless frame. His partner had taken him out while he was busy with the others._

_Heaving a sigh of relief he made his way to the extraction point._

Naruto dodged his opponent by feinting to the left, but by going right. The second guy rushed him rapidly, turning quickly he prepared to take the shot. His opponent jumped to block it. However Naruto had feinted taking the shot, and had discreetly passed the ball to Kiba. Leaving him with all the time in the world to make the 3-pointer.

"And that's how you do it people." Kiba exclaimed, raising a hand for a high- five and Naruto sportingly obliged. Their opponents groaned in humiliation and defeat.

It was Naruto's day-off from work and taking advantage of that, Kiba had dragged him for two a side basketball against a couple of guys from another school. Naruto had nothing against basketball, so he had gone along with it.

"You're good." Said Daisuke, one of their opponents addressing Naruto, while the other huffed in annoyance.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself." Naruto complimented back, at which Daisuke broke into a laugh.

"I thought so too, before today that is. Seriously you were running circles around us."

"Now you're exaggerating. We were just having a good day, that's all." Naruto said.

"There is a two a side tournament being held in the neighbourhood, next week. If you want I can sign you guys up." Daisuke offered.

"Are you talking about the Shinji Tournament?" Kiba, who had been feeling ignored so far, piped up.

"The very same. I know the organizers, and they are always on the lookout for fresh talent. So what do you say?" The older teen said.

"Would love to, but we have our sessional exams coming up next week." Naruto said apologetically.

At this point a diversion was created by a teenaged girl who draped herself over Daisuke from behind, kissing his cheek.

"Hey, Daisuke." The girl said. "Who're your friends?"

Daisuke chuckled in embarrassment at the girl's actions, gently removing her arms from his neck.

"Guys this is my girlfriend Mai. Mai these are Naruto and Kiba. They are attending Akiruno High."

"Well you guys should be there. Its the first time the tournament has come to Akiruno after all. Daisuke's brother is one of the organizers of the Tournament." Mai said.

Kiba was staring at the girl with his mouth open and Naruto suppressed a groan. Kiba just got a new crush. Though Naruto had to admit, the girl was attractive, with her waist length hair and deep azure eyes and dressed in a black skirt which ended several inches over her knees displaying her fine legs.

"We would love to, but you know school and all that." Naruto tried to excuse himself.

"What if I told you we are getting Hiroto Higarashi to preside over the finals." Mai said with a smirk.

"No way." Kiba exclaimed. Hiroto was one of the up and coming stars in the JBL. Rumors had it that he had been drafted by the NBA too.

"Yeah, and from what I have seen you guys might make the finals." Daisuke smiled at Kiba's reaction.

"We will think about it." Naruto said noncommittally. "See you guys later. Good game Daisuke and it was nice to meet you Mai." Mai smiled at him and waved goodbye.

Naruto grabbed his school bag and on his way out of the court passed a few girls who giggled as he walked by them.

"Hey Naruto wait up." Kiba's voice trailed after him. "So what do you think?"

"About what?" Naruto asked.

"About the tournament du-uh."

"What's there to think about?"

"Come on man, if we enter, together you and I would own that court." Kiba's tone was laced with excitement.

"Too bad we won't be owning anything. We have tests the entire week. Now you may be comfortable missing them, I on the other hand am not." Naruto hated to shoot him down, but it had to be done.

"But think about it, the street cred you get just being the participants, the cheerleaders not to mention the prize money." Kiba persisted.

"Well, no one is stopping you?"

"Are you kidding me? Daisuke had eyes on you the whole time."

"I don't know what to tell you Kiba. I just can't afford to fall behind on my school work."

"Why do you have to such a goody two shoes? I swear you can't be a teenager the way you act." Kiba huffed in annoyance.

Naruto smirked but refrained from reacting.

Soon it was time for them to say goodbye when they arrived at Naruto's apartment.

* * *

Naruto walked in and was in the process of downing a glass of water when a knock on the door announced he had a visitor.

"Anko-san? What are you doing here?" Naruto said on seeing the smirking profile of his visitor.

"Am here to cash in on a favor Gaki." Anko brushed past him to get inside the apartment.

Fifteen minutes later Naruto was glaring holes at his visitor who had helped herself to some ramen as she talked about the reasons explaining her visit.

On the table were a pile of photographs of a boy in his late teens, shot in the head.

"That's Koga Yamazaki. He was shot a year ago in Tama last year."

"I fail to see what that has got to do with me. I wasn't even in Tokyo a year ago."

"Will you let me finish?" Anko snapped at him.

Naruto conceded after a while.

"He was one of the participants of a two on two street basketball tournament called the Shinji Tournament which was held in Tama a couple of years ago. Guess who his partner was in that tournament?" Anko prompted him.

Naruto was already connecting the dots and his quick mind soon reached a conclusion.

"Takeshi." He said under his breath. Ino's dead boyfriend.

Anko nodded grimly.

"Yes, they were quite the team too. Made it to the finals before this mishap. Led to the cancellation of the whole tournament."

"I still don't get how I can help you with this?" Naruto said.

"I am giving you a chance to finish what you started kid. You were looking into these guys weren't you? The police have been unable to make any headway into this case. I had started looking into it when you came up to me asking me to look into the Chimera issue. Even though the case was Narcotics, but now I have means to tie it to an unsolved homicide bringing it into my jurisdiction."

"You think this tournament was used by these guys to recruit kids who would peddle drugs?" Naruto asked.

"Think about it. We already know the operation was impeccable because the peddlers were kids and we couldn't very well find out the scope of the entire operation."

"I suppose arresting the kids didn't do much good." Naruto deduced.

"No, it didn't. Most of these kids are the pro-genies of some very rich and powerful people. Even if we arrest them, they lawyer faster than you can say court-house." Anko admitted.

"Are you asking me to do what I think you're asking me to do?" Naruto asked his neighbor.

"For the first time, we may have a way in. If you can join the tournament and find out anything, we can finally shut these guys down. Permanently."

"You want me to work for the police?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Anko shook her head in."Of course not. You will work for me. The others won't even know about you."

"I need time to think." He said after a while.

Anko nodded glad he hadn't rejected her immediately. "I will give you the rest of the details when you decide to take me up on this."

That night Naruto spent awake thinking about what Anko had said. If he did go in, he might have a chance to run into the other assassin. The mission hadn't been completed and that meant the assassin would be around to finish the job, which gave him the opening he was waiting for.

* * *

The next day of school began normally enough. Though there was a buzz of excitement in the air. Most of it generated because of the Shinji Tournament being hosted in the city. Naruto was however surprised to find he wasn't the only one apprehensive about the tournament.

"That tournament is bad news." Ino was saying to their group of friends just before class started.

"How would you know?" Kiba fired back.

"I am telling you the whole thing is fishy." Ino began.

"Come on Ino Calm down." Shikamaru said trying to diffuse the situation. It was too early for the day for arguments. "Weren't you and Naruto invited to participate."

At this Ino's gaze returned to Naruto waiting for him to confirm what she had been afraid of.

Naruto nodded once, intrigued by Ino's reaction.

"You said no didn't you?" Ino said in an earnest voice.

Naruto never got the chance to response as Asuma walked into the class followed by a dark haired boy.

"Okay class settle down, we have a new transfer student. So why don't you introduce yourself?" Asuma instructed the new boy.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he checked the new kid. Pale skin with reddish brown eyes and jet black hair, with an androgynous face. He heard a few giggles from the girl's side as they checked out the handsome teen.

"Hello I am Uchiha Sasuke." He bowed at the waist before gazing up. "And I hope to have a productive time here."

* * *

_Grabbing a mobile phone from one of the dead men, he dialed the local authorities, to leave an anonymous tip concerning some shots fired at the docks. The mission had officially ended. They had exposed the operation, the rest was up to the authorities._

_At the extraction point he was greeted by the sight of his partner, a Dragunov slinging from his shoulder._

_"9." His partner said acknowledging him._

_"3." He responded._

**And we are done. So another canon character introduced and the tale moves forward. Before I forget thanks to iamnarutofan2200, Namikaze541, Fleetfox and aja342 for their reviews and everyone who has followed and favorited my tale. Last but not the least do check out my other story Shinobi Diaries, a post-series Naruto fic. I can use some feedback there.**_  
_

**Until next time.**

**Peace out.**


	21. The Cloaked Viper:- Uchiha Sasuke

**A/N:- Okay guys welcome to the another chapter of Project Konoha. Despite my rapid updates I am not getting the response I was hoping to garner. Apart from a couple of regular loyal reviewers the response to this story has been lukewarm at best. My percy jackson story which I started on a whim got hell of a lot better response than this one.**

**I suppose that's the bane of being an artist. You don't always get what you want. Anyway enjoy.**

**The Cloaked Viper:- Uchiha Sasuke**

Sasuke Uchiha walked towards the seat he was directed to by Asuma sensei. Three rows down from where Naruto sat, next to a girl named Miyuki who looked flustered on being the neighbor of the handsome boy.

She wasn't the only one affected judging by the looks of admiration he got from all the girls in a 3-seat radius of the boy. Sakura included. Even Ino was giving the boy covert glances.

Sasuke either oblivious to the attention he was getting or simply simply choosing to ignore it plopped down in his seat, hands folded on his desk and simply stared ahead at Asuma, who resumed the lesson once satisfied that his newest student had settled down.

During lunch hour Naruto sat with the usual group. The focus was however was still Uchiha Sasuke who had managed to find himself a solitary table. Only to realize belatedly that just because you want to be alone doesn't mean that you would be left alone.

Soon he found himself surrounded by girls, some not even from their grade, as they tried to engage him in conversation. So far it looked like a one-way street.

Ino stared at the new kid. He was good-looking no doubt about that. But that wasn't what had perked her interest in the boy. She was the daughter of a police officer, who specialized in profiling criminals. Inoichi Yamanaka was a legend in his time. Someone whose footsteps Ino hoped to follow one day.

She had inherited some of her father's skills in reading people. In school she worked out a system classifying kids.

There were the go-getters aka the cool kids. The rich, confident kids who stood out at something or the other. Be it academics or sports. Sometimes it was both. They were also the most volatile. The pressures of their life driving most of them to drinking or drugs, maybe both. She belonged to this group.

Then came the in-betweens. They were nothing exceptional, but weren't socially awkward either. They were sincere students for the most part, but never really stood out in social circles. This kids from this group were always trying to break into the go-getters, few did. It was the grass is greener on the other side scenario with this group.

Then last came the socially awkwards or the geeks and nerds in layman terms. The terms were self-explanatory.

So far she could place every student in these categories.

That was before she came face to face with Naruto Uzumaki. No matter what she did, he just refused to fit a profile. Here was a kid who was seemingly as talented as any of the go-getters, but refused to succumb to the peer pressure that accompanied it, judging by his lack of interest in the co-curriculars. This was despite pressure from the teachers.

He wasn't socially awkward either. He looked like he had chosen to be where he was for god knows what purpose. He never talked about himself and it seemed that no matter what he was never the center of the crowd. Always in a discussion, but never a part of it.

Most people tended to overlook him, but not Ino. She didn't know, but there was something about him which made her very..._ uncomfortable._

And yet she was drawn to him. That probably explained her doomed romance with Takeshi. Even now whenever she thought about him, it left a hollow feeling in her chest. She was drawn to danger. And there was nothing more dangerous than the unknown.

Now she found another she could place in the same category as Naruto.

Sasuke Uchiha.

She didn't know why but she got the same feeling of trepidation from him like the one she got from Naruto.

Though the only time she got it from Naruto was after that fateful party where Kiba got drugged.

And if she didn't know any better she would think that both of them were avoiding each other. Exactly like the like poles of a magnet. She was quite sure she was the only one who realized this.

So lost was she in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when Sakura came and sat next to her looking fairly morose.

"What's eating you?" Shikamaru asked the pink-haired girl.

Sakura didn't reply and started to play with her food.

"She is just depressed that she couldn't sit with Sasuke." Said Tenten who came and joined them.

"And just what are you doing here?" Ino raised an eyebrow at their senior.

"Neither could she." Sakura said getting her own in over the older girl.

Tenten huffed in annoyance. "As if?"

"I don't see it." Kiba said. "I mean if you're into prissy girly guys, sure." He snickered at the last part.

All this time Naruto had stayed out of the conversation. Something which wasn't missed by Ino.

"What about you Naruto?" She asked him.

"What about me?" He frowned at the question.

"Well seeing both of you transferred here. Wouldn't you want to ease him in?"

"Doesn't look like he needs any help."Naruto casually finished the bottle of chocolate milk he had gotten with his lunch before getting up having finished his lunch.

Okay that was definitely weird. It was subtle. But now Ino was sure that Naruto was actually avoiding Sasuke.

* * *

When school ended that day and Ino was saying farewells to her friends when she saw a crowd surrounding the school basketball court. As she got closer she was greeted by the sounds of cheers.

As she made her way through the crowd the cause of the commotion revealed itself.

It was a two a side basketball match. She recognized one of the players as Rock Lee, along with two more regulars in the school team.

However it was the last player who seemed to be holding the crowd's interest.

Uchiha Sasuke.

He was incredible. He moved flawlessly between his opponents and seemed to be reading their every move. Even when they were double-teaming him, he had no problems dodging. When he wasn't dodging them, he was shooting three-pointers.

Which hit nothing but net.

At the edge of the crowd she spotted Kiba and Naruto observing the match. Kiba watching with open-mouthed wonder and Naruto had his arms folded over his chest.

* * *

That evening after finishing his shift at the Ichiraku's, Naruto was walking home, going over the events of the day and wondering what they meant.

He was passing the local flower shop when it happened. Only reflexes born out of constant life and death situations saved his head from exploding like a melon. The same couldn't be said about the flower pot the lady in the shop was carrying.

Ignoring the cries of the startled woman, Naruto took off. Running in the narrow streets, he tried to triangulate the position of the shooter. Making some quick calculations in his head involving his own position the cover around the area, the trajectory of the bullet, he figured the shooter was approximately 300 yards east at a height of 30 meters.

Though that wasn't where the shooter would be. To find him he would have to venture into the open again. Make himself the bait. He would have to look for places which won't be crowded.

Hard to do in a town this crowded and a radius this limited. 300 yards wasn't really a lot work with when you wanted to close the distance between you and your opponent.

That only left one place.

The rooftops.

Getting on his knees he untied his shoes. For what he was about to do he needed to be barefoot. He hadn't done this in a while.

Getting a running start he built up some momentum ran towards the nearest building, without breaking stride he started running vertically up, without breaking stride. When he got on the roof he was forced to execute a front roll to avoid another bullet. This one came from his left. 100 meters away and approximately 3 meters above his position.

This shouldn't take long. Keeping his center of gravity low he sped in the direction of the shooter. The tricky part would be the jump between the buildings.

He couldn't dodge bullets mid-air no matter how good his perception is.

So he did the next best thing. Instead of jumping on the rooftop he jumped inside the next building, using the building's height as cover.

"Hey!"

"Mom! there was a boy running through our living room."

Ignoring the startled screams of the occupants of the apartments he jumped into. This happened three times before he finally reached the sniper's nest.

However the only thing he found was a .22 rifle without a scope, causing Naruto to smirk.

"Tch. Arrogant bastard."

* * *

Naruto unlocked his apartment and grabbed a bottle of water emptying it in several gulps. He didn't bother switching on the lights, even though the sun had set leaving the apartment in darkness.

"That was a little dramatic don't you think?" He spoke.

"You survived didn't you?" Came a cold voice from the darkness followed by the lights. "It was however satisfactory to see that you've kept your skills sharp."

"I can say the same. What are you doing here 3? Or should I say were you sent here?" Naruto turned to face his ex-comrade now classmate who had occupied one of the two chairs in his apartment.

"If I was, I wouldn't have revealed myself now would I? Speaking of which, you have been busy."

"Don't know what you're talking about?" Naruto feigned ignorance.

"Don't play games with me 9! I have following your activities with no small measure of interest if I may say. On more than one occasion you have compromised your cover in the last few months." Sasuke said without any inflection in his voice.

"It was necessary." Naruto sighed.

"Really? Why does the cop know of you?"

"I could have used a law enforcement officer on my side. I knew I could trust her."

"Fine, what about those gangsters that you left alive in the forest?"

That was a little complicated.

"I am being watched." He finally said. "And not by you."

His companion barely raised an eyebrow at that.

"I left them alive to see if I can flush them out." Naruto continued. "I wasn't expecting you though."

"Hn. Well then I have nothing to worry about." He conceded.

"What would you have done, if it had been something to worry about?" Naruto couldn't help asking.

"I would have killed your cop friend." Sasuke said with his usual casual nonchalance.

The temperature of the room dropped following this declaration. The two boys stared each other down neither giving any quarter to the other.

"Staying for dinner?"

"..."

"Sure why not."

* * *

"Of all the names you could have come up with you chose Sasuke Uchiha?" Naruto helped himself more rice keeping the conversation going at the same time.

"Its the means to an end nothing more. And I didn't choose it. It was a name I was given. Not that you did any better. You named yourself fishcake."

"Naruto means Maelstrom." He was unable to keep the tinge of annoyance out of his voice. "And I didn't choose it either. Also you need to stop standing out so much."

"Don't know what you're talking about. Though I did notice I was getting more attention than I wanted."

"You didn't help matters by participating in that after-school match either."

"I was invited." Sasuke shrugged. Naruto managed not to roll his eyes. The seniors probably tried to show-up the new kid who was garnering so much female attention. "And infiltration was never my forte. "

That was true. 3 was a strictly long range support and extraction specialist. He must have been desperate if he came to Akiruno High.

"So you still haven't told me why you're here?" Naruto said.

"I need help." Sasuke said between mouthfuls of rice. "Someone is taking us out systematically. They already got 5 and 8."

"I fail to see how I can help. I am in the same situation as you are."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he studied Naruto. Naruto for his part bore the scrutiny without flinching.

"How did you get out? When you dropped off the grid you were assumed to be dead."

"Iruka helped me. You?"

"Who do you think?"

It was Naruto's turn to stare at Sasuke.

"He was supposed to be dead." Naruto deadpanned

"So are you." Well he had a point there. "A few months before his 'death' he gave me the means to escape. He knew what was coming."

Suddenly the pieces began to fall into place. The whole picture was still hidden, but he was getting there. The fact that he escaped and so did 3 along with the presence of a new assassin meant only one thing.

"We are being replaced." Naruto finally said.

Sasuke nodded having arrived at that conclusion himself. But now another question was staring him in his face... Why? The answers it seems were only leading to more questions. It was like one of those joke boxes where you unlocked one only to find another locked one inside.

"Which brings us to my original question. What do you want from me?"

"I need your help to find 'him'." Sasuke replied. "He may be able to help."

"Fair enough. But what makes you think we will be able to find him, if he doesn't even want to be found."

Sasuke silently reached into his pocket and brought out a rectangular piece of paper the shape of a visiting card and handed it to Naruto.

"After he disappeared I found this among his things." He said. "I think he wanted me to find it."

Naruto studied the card intently. It was blank.

He then turned it over.

His eyes widened slightly as he studied the insignia of a leaf.

"So now tell me 'Naruto' if he doesn't want to be found."

**Well another one down. Hope you enjoyed this one. Until next time. Slightly shorter than my usual chapters, but just felt like the right time to finish this one.**

**Until next time.**


	22. The Cloaked Viper:- Commencing Moves

**The Cloaked Viper:- Commencing Moves**

**A/N;- Okay guys welcome to another chapter of Project Konoha. Am back as you can see. And in the words of a great man. The show must go on. So here we are. The last month has been bittersweet to say the least. While I did get some more ideas for the stories I am writing it has been a bit chaotic on the personal fronts of my life. But anyway here we go. Enjoy.**

**P.S iamnarutofan2200; you really should check your account. **

Naruto's night was more sleepless than usual. He had a lot to think about. To say he had been shaken by 3's revelations wouldn't be an exaggeration. But the thing was he wasn't sure if he could be trusted.

Scratch that. He knew he couldn't be trusted. But if there was was one thing Naruto trusted above all else, it was motivations.

Especially when someone lived the way he used to do.

The term 'lived used very loosely.'

He would have preferred to hang back and let it play out, but he wasn't sure if he had that luxury anymore.

Though his situation hadn't changed, his awareness of it certainly had.

Ignorance may have been bliss.

But knowledge was power, a power which could mean the difference between life and death.

He wasn't afraid of dying. No far from it. He never remembered fearing it as a matter of fact. It wasn't even about pragmatism. It was just a fact. The work he was doing would have eventually killed him. The fact that he wasn't doing it anymore more than likely will kill him anyway. It was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

Or as Anko would put it Heads you lose, tails they win.

Speaking of Anko, he still wasn't sure if he wanted to take her up on that. He owed her. This might be chance he was waiting for. But he wasn't comfortable going as a basketball player.

Too much attention if he said so himself. Already he could see Ino getting suspicious. But he wasn't sure what he could do about that. It was the lesser of two evils. Having her suspicious of him or having the entire school suspicious. Not much he could do about it. Just play his part and let her draw her conclusions. He doubted she would get it right anyway.

His clock proclaimed the time to be 2 AM. Well better get ready for the day. Changing into tracks he went for his usual morning ritual of training.

It was during his shower after, that he came upon a plan that would enable him not only to help Anko, but also keep his cover. Now all he needed to do was put it in motion.

Stepping out of his shower, he flipped open his phone and dialed a number he didn't think he would be using when he got it.

"Hey Daisuke. Yeah I need a favor. I know its early. But trust me, it would be worth your while."

* * *

"So, you're telling me you want me to put myself up as a participant in this tournament, which might be a front for drug peddlers according to your neighbor who happens to be a police officer." Sasuke said. "And said police officer wants you to help you get to the bottom of it."

Naruto nodded once.

He had invited his comrade of sorts for his early morning training session. It was the only time, when they could talk without compromising themselves. After his regular 15 mile run, they were now stretching to begin work on the strength routine.

"I have a question. Why aren't you participating? You were even invited to do so." Sasuke was standing on his hands and doing his routine for push-ups.

"I already have a cover as a boy who isn't interested in anything other than what he needs to do. I intend to keep it that way." Naruto explained. "You on the other hand have already revealed yourself as a show-off. Not something I would have recommended mind you. But we will make it work." That was infiltration 101. Always protect your cover.

Never go against what is expected of you.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted. "Give me one reason why I should do this?"

"This is just means to an end. I need you to play along for now. It will get us some favor with Anko, who can be a valuable asset later."

Sasuke wasn't convinced but he nodded anyway. He would do as he was told... for now. He did need his help after all.

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" He asked.

"No. But I have to work with what I have. I need Anko's goodwill and this will go some way in getting it." Naruto began on his own strength exercises starting with a set of pull-ups using the branch of a tree.

"Will she know about me?" Sasuke queried getting to his feet and taking up a stance.

Naruto dropped down.

"No, she won't." He said dryly. 3 was another variable in an extremely chaotic equation. But he was a variable that was known to him. He would hold on to this card for as long as could. Moreover if he did tell Anko or she somehow found out about him, he probably would kill her. Something he would rather avoid for now or rather altogether.

"Fine I will help."

Naruto took his stance. It had been a while since he had a spar. Sasuke cricked his neck and shot forward to engage him bringing an end to their conversation.

* * *

"So you want to participate in the tournament?" Daisuke asked the black haired teen in front of him.

"I heard the money was good." Sasuke shrugged.

"The money is. Are you?"

"We will just have to find out now won't we?"

"You're a smartass aren't you?" Daisuke went through the motions of going through some paperwork, before handing out some to Sasuke. "Why don't you fill those up and we will see about getting you in. The actual tournament starts in a four days, but we are screening them in the prelims. Your match will be at 4 in the evening. So report here by 3 along with your partner."

Sasuke nodded once accepting the forms. He would play along with 9 for now. He needed his help. He wished he didn't have to. Being with others and interacting made him feel... exposed.

He was good at what he did. 9's set of skills while working on the same principles are fundamentally opposite that of his. 9 is a what you would call a social chameleon. While he worked best in the shadows, unnoticed and unseen right up till the moment he struck, his targets never saw him coming. A head shot from a mile was how he did things.

At a mile everything came into play. From the make of the weapon, to the climatic conditions. Wind speed, humidity even the curvature of the Earth not to mention the motion of your target. More often than not the success of the shot relied more on getting the target where he was going to be rather than where he was at. A skill which bordered on precognition.

9 on the other hand excelled in blending with the people he was around. Always in sight, always seen, but never noticed. Or rather only noticing what he wanted others to notice. He was trained to get close to the target he was to eliminate, before blending back in the crowd.

But now the roles had reversed. He was to be the chameleon, while 9 worked in the shadows. He still didn't understand 9's need to stay here. Especially since the policewoman seemed to have some sort of inkling as to what 9 was.

To make matters worse it seemed 9 was the one who revealed it to her. 3 still didn't think it was a good idea to keep her alive. She knew too much. 9 had convinced him to back off for now and he would comply. It seemed that they had some sort of working relationship and she had acquired 9's aid and by extension his own.

He wished he had another way. But after months of searching he had reached a dead-end. He needed help and 9 was the only one who can.

* * *

Naruto was nearing the end of his shift at the Ichiraku's. He was doing the dishes to end the day's work when Ayame approached him.

"I just heard about the basketball tournament." She said approaching the sink and started wiping the dishes.

"What about it?" Naruto asked curiosity lacing his voice.

"They are holding the prelims today and I thought that you would have been there with your friends watching."

"But I had work here. I couldn't leave this." Naruto replied.

"You really should stop doing that you know." Ayame began arranging the plates while keeping up the conversation.

"Doing what?" Naruto was mystified.

"Always being the grown-up." Ayame elaborated, before turning to face him. "You are a teenager kid. You should be going out with your friends and doing fun-stuff too."

This again. Really he should have seen this coming. Ayame always worried about him. To a lesser extent so did Teuchi, but he usually let him be.

"Would it make you feel better if I told you I have fun working here."

This caused Ayame to break into a smile.

"Nice try kid. But really you need to relax sometimes. The way you're going you will burn yourself out and that won't do you any good."

"I will keep that in mind."

Before Ayame could say anything else, the doorbell rang announcing the arrival of a new customer.

"I will get it." Naruto beat a quick retreat using this as an excuse to avoid the conversation, while Ayame looked on exasperated. Damn the kid was slippery.

"Good evening. Welcome to... Oh hey Ino." Naruto began before changing his greeting om seeing his blonde haired classmate. He was however still surprised to see her in uniform.

"Hey Naruto. I hoped I would find you here." Ino said.

"Okay. So what's up?" Naruto had to be honest he was a little surprised to see her here and something in her manner suggested that she was a little agitated.

"Naruto I really need to talk speak with you."

What she needed to talk about had to wait as at that moment another distraction was created by the doorbell, this time announcing the presence of Anko.

"Hey there gaki, how about some service to your favorite customer." Anko said with a grin adorning her face. A smile which didn't quite reached her eyes.

Naruto sighed. He knew why she was here. But Ino wanted to talk too. It was obvious she had something on her mind.

"Why don't you take a seat Ino? I will see what she wants and then we will talk okay." He told her.

Ino didn't look too happy about it but nodded nevertheless. Leading Ino to a booth as far from Anko as he could, he approached her.

"I suppose you will have your usual." Naruto said wanting to avoid a conversation here.

Ayame chose this moment to enter the restaurant.

"Hello Anko-san it has been a while."

"You know us cops. Always busy." Anko smiled at the girl. "Speaking of busy, the kid here is a regular worker bee."

"Tell me about it." Ayame said in a tone suggesting exasperation. "No matter what I can't get him to go out Even though his shift is over he is catering to customers."

"You know there is a basketball tournament in town. Almost every kid is at the fields watching the matches. You should be there too." Anko said bluntly, causing Naruto to glare at her.

"That's what I have been trying to convince him to do." Ayame said happy to have found someone who she could team up with.

"Anyway why don't you be a good girl and get me some dangos Ayame while I convince the kid about the perks of relaxing."

"Sure Anko-san. One batch of dangos coming right up."

"Why are you here Anko?" He asked still glaring at her.

"Why aren't you at the courts kid?" Anko retaliated fixing him with a glare of her own.

"I never said I would participate." He countered.

Anko opened her mouth to fire another retort, before Naruto raised his hand stopping her. "Look I have it worked out okay. I said I won't be participating, but I would be helping."

"How so?" Anko raised an eyebrow.

"I am volunteering at the tournament. Gives me better access than being a player while still maintaining some degree of anonymity." He elaborated.

Anko glare softened at his arguments before nodding. It was extremely well-thought out. The kid definitely knew what he was doing. If everything went well they would finally be putting a drug-trafficking ring out of business.

"Well looks like I have nothing more to say to you then." Anko got up from her booth as Ayame brought her order. "I will take it on the go if you don't mind Ayame."

Ayame nodded before complying.

Anko turned her attention back on Naruto shooting a glance over his shoulder a salacious smile breaking on her face. "Your efforts have definitely earned you a reward." Something in the tone of her voice made him wary. His fears were confirmed the very next second when darting like a cobra she pecked him on the cheek leaving him a little dumbfounded with a blush on his cheeks.

"See you around kid." She waved before taking her order from the counter and leaving the restaurant.

What the hell was that all about. The reason became clear when Naruto turned around to see what Ino wanted.

* * *

When Ino had arrived at Ichiraku's to talk to Naruto, she had been a little conflicted as to how to bring it up. So she was thankful even if it irritated her a bit to see another customer monopolize his time. It gave her the time to gather her thoughts.

The new arrival was a purple-haired brown-eyed woman, dressed in a brown trench-coat over a fishnet did little to hide her figure. The woman oozed sexuality. Despite herself she couldn't help notice the familiarity she had with her classmate. They were soon joined by the daughter of the owner.

Even though she couldn't hear the conversation she could tell the line of conversation annoyed Naruto.

Once the waitress left with the woman's order both of them appeared to break into some kind of argument, which didn't last long as the woman seemed satisfied with his explanation. This roused Ino's curiosity.

Who was this woman?

Then before leaving the woman got up, before throwing her a smile, surprising her. Then she did something which surprised her even more when lunging forward she kissed him on his cheek causing her to gasp.

When she finally left the restaurant Naruto turned to her wearing a slightly annoyed expression on his face, which for some reason pleased Ino.

Walking up to her booth he sat down, the scowl still not leaving his face.

"So what did you want to talk about?" His voice broke through her haze of thoughts.

Ino took a few more seconds to gather her thoughts, before beginning.

"You remember what I said about the tournament being bad news right?"

Naruto nodded.

"I went to watch the prelims, just to see if you were participating or not, imagine my surprise when I saw the new kid Sasuke in one of the matches."

"Did he win?"

"Unfortunately yes. And guess who his teammate was?" Ino's voice was becoming more agitated.

Her next words confirmed his fears.

"Inuzuka Kiba."

**And that's a wrap guys. Thanks once again to all my readers, reviewers and subscribers. Hope to hear more from you guys. Suggestions and criticisms are welcome. On another note I might be starting another modern day AU. It will be inspired by Constantine and The Supernatural series though won't be a copy of them. The genre would be horror noir. So tell me what you think.**

**Until next time.**


	23. The Cloaked Viper:- The Puppeteer

**The Cloaked Viper:- The Puppeteer**

"Yes, that's right, Kiba is participating." Ino said earnestly.

This was a complication Naruto had not foreseen. So much so that it hadn't even entered his mind that Kiba would or could participate at all.

But he was sure there was more to this than met the eye. 3 did this on purpose. Testing him. Seeing if how he reacts to his friends being in the line of fire.

He used the term 'friends' very loosely.

As unlike Ino who was worried about Kiba participating in the tournament and rightly so, Naruto was more worried about who he was participating with.

It made him wonder if it had been such a good idea to involve 3 in this. To be honest the reason he involved him had more to do with the fact that he wanted to keep a closer eye on him rather than the fact that he needed his help.

But now Kiba was in the danger zone.

So yes things had gotten a little complicated. Though he would have to play things down for now and see how much Ino knew.

"If kiba's mom didn't have a problem with him participating I don't see any reason to worry Ino." Naruto said trying to placate the girl.

"Because she doesn't know what I do." Ino said grimly.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked feigning puzzlement.

Ino took a calming breath as she prepared herself to reveal what she knew. She would have preferred if it hadn't come to this, but she would do what she had to.

"Takeshi had participated in the tournament a year ago." Ino began hesitantly, any topic regarding her dead ex still sent pangs through her heart. "He was an up and coming star in his last school, before he participated in this tournament. But this had changed everything. He lost his best friend during the course of the tournament and I am quite sure the events during that time were what led to his own death."

"That is a rather extreme assumption to make isn't it?" Naruto said trying to placate the girl.

"You're not listening to me Naruto. I am sure there is a connection. Why else do you think Takeshi moved to Akiruno? His own problem with drugs, the tournament and his death they are all connected somehow." She said earnestly.

Naruto had to admit. Ino was more perceptive than he gave her credit for.

"Look even if something is wrong why tell me? Isn't your dad an ex-cop I am sure he can get someone to look into it, if you asked him."

"He doesn't take me seriously enough on this." She mumbled.

That sort of did catch Naruto off-guard. From what he had seen of Yamanaka Inoichi, the man obviously adored his daughter and ignoring her on something like this?

"Why not?" He asked his curiosity getting the better of him.

"He has a blind spot when it comes to Takeshi. He refuses to listen to anything I have to say when it comes to him." Ino grumbled. Not that she blamed him. Takeshi was every father's worst nightmare, especially if you're the father of the girl he is dating. He was reckless, got into fights, used to drink and was a bad boy to the core. The fact that he ended up being dead in a cold, dark alley only served to increase her father's paranoia about his wayward daughter.

But despite everything she knew that Takeshi had cared about her. She wanted to believe somewhere deep down he wanted to change.

"You still haven't told me what you expect me to do?" Naruto said folding his arms over his chest.

"Talk Kiba out of it. He is your friend and I am sure he will listen to you." She pleaded.

Well well would surprises never cease. Despite her overt antagonism towards the boy, she was going out of her way to protect him.

"I think its a little late for that." Naruto shook his head.

"Please, can you at least try? I would do it myself, but he would never see it as anything other than me trying to hinder him." She persisted.

That's when Naruto felt there was something more here.

"You know Kiba being drugged wasn't your fault."

What? Ino gaped.

"But I appreciate what you are trying to do here. I will talk to him if it means that much to you. But I am sure he will be fine." Naruto said getting up.

"Thank you." Ino finally managed as she saw the retreating figure of the blonde. "How do you do it?" The words left her mouth before she realized.

"Do what?" This time Naruto was genuinely puzzled.

"Avoid all the peer pressure." Ino had gotten up herself and had caught up to the blonde boy.

"I suppose I want different things than the rest." Naruto shrugged. "See you later Ino." With a wave of his hand Naruto left the joint.

Well that told her nothing about him. Why was he always so evasive?

* * *

The venue for the matches was the City Shopping mall. The organizers had booked the entire ground floor for the 3 day event.

The first day prelims, followed by the heats the next day with the semi-finals and finals in the last day. The tournament rules were fairly simple. 8 teams had qualified from the prelims and were then divided into 2 groups in the heats. The top two teams from each group would then proceed to the play in the semi-finals. The matches were divided into two halves of 7 and a half minutes each, with two minutes for overtime.

Kiba and Sasuke were waiting in the sidelines for their first match, while Naruto was volunteering in the event. He was in the process of handing out electrolytes to the players during the break.

"Well hey there." A voice greeted him from behind. Naruto turned around to come face to face with the smiling visage of Daisuke. "Looks like you found a way to get yourself involved with the tournament, even though you aren't an active participant"

"I can say the same about you." Naruto smiled while shaking the older boy's hand.

"I am more of a behind the scenes guy you know." Daisuke chuckled at Naruto's observation. "Besides it helps me learn the ropes of the business that my brother is involved with and I want to be able to help him."

"Your brother must be something if he could put on something like this every year." Naruto commented.

"This is the 3rd year in a row now." Daisuke said proudly. "My brother loves basketball and the idea for this tournament was born of his desire to give the raw talent found in the streets a platform to give them some sort of visibility."

"Your brother sounds like a good man." Naruto said.

"He is the greatest."

"I would like to meet him." Naruto said a plan forming in his head. "Is he here?"

"Of course. He will be here in time for the last of the heats. He is in meeting with some of the sponsors right now I believe."

"Daisuke we need you with the caterers. We seem to have hit a snag." One of the volunteers approached Daisuke, dressed in an orange shirt and red cap with jeans, exactly like his. The shirt was embossed with the official tournament logo of a player taking in the process of a executing a slam dunk and the words Shinji Tournament with the year proclaimned proudly below the logo..

Daisuke grimaced. "Well duty calls. I will come and get you once my brother arrives."

"That would be great."

With a final wave Daisuke retreated.

"Daisuke seems to have taken a liking to you." The volunteer addressed Naruto.

Turning to face the volunteer Naruto realized he knew her. It was Daisuke's girlfriend.

"Hey. Its Mai right?" Naruto made a show of recalling from memory.

The girl grinned obviously pleased that Naruto remembered her.

"Good to see you again Naruto-san. Though I expected you to be on the court not the sidelines."

"I don't perform well in front of a crowd." Naruto shrugged.

"I can see how that might be a problem." Mai smirked.

Naruto fought down a blush at her implication.

"That's not what I meant." He defended himself, causing Mai to break into a fit of giggles. "Well I better wish my friend luck, his match is coming up next." This time Mai broke into a gut wheezing laughter causing Naruto's eyebrows to twitch in annoyance.

Naruto walked into the player's enclosure dodging some really hostile players, before finally reaching Kiba and Sasuke, placing a hand on Kiba's shoulder to get his attention.

"Oh hey Naruto, you came." Kiba spoke in a surprisingly high tone.

"Hey Kiba, Sasuke." He greeted the other half of the team.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement.

"I see you volunteered." Kiba said observing the way Naruto was dressed.

"Yeah I figured I might as well." Naruto shrugged.

"I hope you don't mind me borrowing your friend here as a partner." Sasuke spoke up unexpectedly.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he met Sasuke's eyes. Clever. Naruto was sure Sasuke could have gotten anyone to partner with him, but he chose Kiba. Maybe as a way to see how Naruto reacted. Trying to see how attached Naruto was to his friends.

Looking down at Kiba he saw the guilt playing in his eyes at not having been able to partner with him. To a guy as loyal as Kiba, that probably amounted to betrayal in his book. And whatever Naruto would have wanted to say to convince him to drop-out from the tournament froze in his throat.

If he said anything now, it would only make things worse. Kiba probably wouldn't understand the gravity of the situation without Naruto revealing everything and he really didn't want to give 3 anything to hold over his head.

Well he supposed he would have to make sure nothing happened.

"Naa. I just came to wish you guys luck. Us Akiruno High guys have to stick together after all." Naruto said.

The relieved smile that broke over Kiba's face convinced Naruto that he had taken the right decision.

"You guys are up." A volunteer came to the enclosure and addressed Kiba and Sasuke.

"Here goes." Kiba stood up nervously.

"You will be fine." Naruto assured him.

Kiba nodded once in appreciation of Naruto's support before stepping onto the court. Sasuke followed close behind his eyes meeting Naruto's once. A loud cheer from girls went up when Sasuke entered the court.

Well time for him to get to work.

At the surface, the tournament looked legit. It was exactly what Daisuke said it was, a platform to allow the raw talent in the city to showcase itself.

From what the file Anko had given him told him. The tournament was organized by Shinji Sports Supplies. A company which manufactured sports goods. Daisuke's older brother Daichi being the chairman.

Even 5 years ago it was an obscure company, struggling to find its feet. But all that changed soon enough and now it was one of the largest sports companies in Japan. There were rumors of the company going international too.

3 years ago, the company had started organizing the Shinji Tournament. Every year they would get a leading basketball player to preside over the finals.

Pretty impressive for a company which no one had even heard of, until a few years back. There was definitely something there.

He really needed to speak with Daisuke's brother.

* * *

"... And once again I would like to thank all of you for all the effort you have put together for this event." The speaker concluded to a very enthusiastic applause from the gathered crowd.

It was the conclusion of the first day of the tournament. The volunteers had been asked to stay back to be addressed by the boss at the end of the day.

Daichi Yamagata.

This was Naruto's first time seeing the man. A handsome young man in his late twenties, he was dressed in an open collared white shirt with black trousers.

His dressing style was professional without being the least bit intimidating. He had a natural. easy-going style of speaking, which grabbed the attention of everyone listening.

Overall he was a very charismatic man. Naruto could see why Daisuke idolized his brother.

Too bad his brother seemed to be neck-deep in this mess.

"Hey Naruto come on I will introduce you to my brother." Daisuke called him out. Grabbing Naruto by the arm Daisuke dragged him to his brother, who was now talking to some of the volunteers.

"Hey brother, this was the boy I was telling you about."

Daichi excused himself from the group and turned to his little brother.

"Hey, little brother and you must be Naruto Uzumaki. The way my brother talked about you I was hoping to see you in action at the tournament." Daichi shook Naruto's hand.

"Yeah public tournaments aren't really my thing though." Naruto said. "I wanted to say, it really has been a pleasure working for you."

"Basketball has always been a passion for me since my school days. I had dreams to one day be a part of the National team. That didn't come to fruition, so I decided to create opportunities for others who share my dream. Shinji Tournament was the result." Daichi explained. "This year has thrown forward some really promising prospects. Especially that Sasuke kid."

At this point his phone rang interrupting their conversation. "Excuse me boys I need to take this."

"So what do you think?" Daisuke asked Naruto.

"Your brother is a very likable man." Naruto admitted. "I need to use the restroom. I will see you in a bit."

After excusing himself, Naruto started tailing Daichi, who was now hurrying towards his car, a black Range Rover Evoque.

He couldn't place himself in the car, without being discovered here.

He had to improvise.

He followed the car on foot. The heavy traffic allowing him to keep the car within sight all the time, without having to resort to roof jumping. But he couldn't keep this up for long.

But it looked like he wouldn't have to. The car finally came to stop at a traffic red light.

Discretely taking the cover of nearby vehicles, Naruto slipped underneath the SUV.

By the time the lights turned green and the car started moving Naruto was safely hanging underneath the car.

* * *

The car finally stopped at an office complex after 15 minutes of driving. Letting go Naruto rolled out from underneath the car, just before Daichi handed his keys to the chauffeur. Dusting himself off Naruto saw watched the retreating figure of Daichi enter the building.

Fishing a handkerchief out of his pocket, he tied it around his head to hide his hair and studied the building. It was a four floor structure.

The ground and first floor were turned into shopping complexes. The entire third floor belonged to Shinji Sports Supplies, while the fourth floor still seemed to be under construction.

Carefully angling his face away from the cameras at the entrance, he allowed himself to be checked by the guards at the entrance, before he was allowed in.

Making his way to the third floor via the escalators, he entered the store.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A woman in her early twenties greeted him.

"Just browsing." Naruto smiled at the woman. The woman bowed politely before leaving him to his devices. Naruto looked around the store and saw no sign of Daichi.

That could only mean one thing.

Scoping the place for cameras he saw three around the store. That slightly complicated janitor's closet was near the tennis section. He had to time this right.

The closet would be locked obviously. He could pick it, but that would be too suspicious. So he would have to wait for his opportunity.

Which didn't take long in coming, when a janitor came out of the closet. Naruto positioned himself in a way so the man bumped against him.

"Excuse me, sir." The man apologized.

"No harm done." Naruto replied, having deftly snagged the keys to the closet.

Casually walking to the closet Naruto unlocked it and went inside, discretely tossing the keys away. The camera probably caught his stunt, but he doubted anyone would be reviewing them anytime soon.

It was a calculated risk. One that had to be taken. Moreover he had made sure his face was hidden.

Once inside, he fished around the place to look for a screwdriver. Finding one didn't take long. Standing on the stool, he unscrewed the hatch on the ceiling, which led to the ventilation ducts.

Working fast, he hurriedly pulled himself up. and followed the hatch to the next floor, where he had no doubt Daichi was.

Sometimes he wished there were easier ways to do this.

* * *

"I don't need this from you now Kazuya. I told you to stay away." He heard Daichi's voice through the duct.

"You seem to assume that your opinion matters to me. You forget your place." Another voice light, but menacing countered. "Don't make me regret our arrangement."

"I though our arrangement had ended."

"That was before the recent setbacks. The Chimera debacle has hurt our operation badly and you know it, so I really need you to play along."

"And what if I refuse."

"Don't test me Daichi. You know what I am capable of." The man paused. "Speaking of which how is your brother doing?"

Daichi hissed. "Keep him out of this."

"Then do what you're told." Naruto could make out the retreating footsteps. "I will be in touch."

That was a bit disappointing, Naruto had to admit.

But at least he had a name now.

He needed to talk to Anko.

**Well another one down. Shout-outs to Nmikaze541, Aaron and Fleetfox for the awesome reviews. Thanks to everyone who has favorited and subscribed this story.**

**Your support keeps me going.**

**Until next time.**


	24. The Cloaked Viper: Half-truths and Lies

**The Cloaked Viper: Half-truth and Lies.**

"So, that's all you got for me?" Anko chewed thoughtfully on one of Naruto's instant ramen stashes. Naruto had stopped caring after the first 10 times she had raided his kitchen.

At the moment they were in the laundry room of his apartment. His soiree in those ventilation shafts had left his clothes dirty, and he didn't have the luxury of procrastinating since the tournament was still underway,

"Its still more than what you had before." Naruto replied. "So does the name ring any bells?"

"No, it doesn't. I will run it through the system though and see what I can find." Anko said.

"Why don't you put surveillance on Daichi?" Naruto retrieved his now clean clothes from the machine and began folding them, which Anko thought was a little weird. There was a kind of discipline to his life that she hadn't seen in most adults.

To any eye he just looked like a regular boy, who lacked ambition, despite not being a slacker. He lived simply, had few worldly possessions and the only things she was sure he actually liked was ramen.

He had a few friends and wasn't socially awkward, even if he was a little aloof. But that must be a conscious decision on his part to avoid getting too close to people.

Almost made her feel sorry for that Ino girl who sometimes frequents the Ichiraku's to see him. She could tell she had it bad for the kid, even if she didn't know it yet.

And she could see exactly where this would go.

And that was not a good place. But then that was life. The lessons stay longer and hit harder if you experience them. Moreover she hadn't exactly seen Naruto encouraging her.

"We may need to do that. So far we had no reason to suspect Daichi, we still don't have enough to authorise an active surveillance on the man." Anko got down from her perch on one of the laundry machines, throwing the ramen cup in the dumpster she followed Naruto to his apartment. "If only you could get a visual on this Kazuya character."

"I wasn't exactly in the best position to follow the guy you know." Naruto placed his basket on the floor of his apartment as he continued the conversation. "He had exited the complex long before I could see him."

Anko was in deep thought as she pondered over this predicament.

"What was the time you said he exited the complex?" She queried.

"It was 7:32." Came the prompt reply.

"You sure?" Anko asked the boy, receiving a raised eyebrow in return. "Of course you are. Anyway I may have a way to make this work."

"Good. Then now you know what to do. So I hope my role ends here." Naruto said.

"Aren't you interested to see how this ends, or even what I am going to do next?" Anko said taking a chair in his dining room. She found his lack of interest a little baffling. Not that she would have told him anything if he asked, but it was a little vexing.

"If I don't need to know, I would rather not know." Naruto replied. "But I would like to know something."

"Well I guess you have earned the right to get the birds and bees speech from yours truly." Anko said her eyes shining with mirth.

"As informative as that may be I will have to take a rain check on that." Naruto said not willing to rise to her bait.

"Oh come on you''re no fun..." Anko pouted at her failure to get a rise out of the blonde.

"What I would like to know about is the leaf symbol you showed me the other day." Naruto interrupted her before they could get too sidetracked.

Anko folded her arms. Not sure how much she should reveal. He kept secrets from her too after all. But then the last time he had denied knowing anything about it. Something had changed. Eventually her own curiosity overcame her paranoia.

"It was found among Iruka's belongings." Anko finally said.

"You know what it is?"

"Not a clue." Anko replied. "You got something for me kid?"

"...No, nothing."

Anko was beginning to get a little angry now.

"Listen kid if you have something you need to tell me now." Anko said reigning her temper in.

"I will tell you if I have something."

Anko suppressed the urge to rub her forehead, as undemanding of answers as he was, he sure was a vault of secrets, which more often than not left her wondering how much he exactly knew or how much he revealed.

Its not that she didn't understand. Even though he never talked about it, she had some inkling of the kind of life he had so far. His entire life revolved around things that were kept from him and things that he kept from others.

That's how he was used to live after all.

Still it didn't mean that she wasn't annoyed by it.

She din't get to say her next words however, as they were interrupted by a knock to the door. Naruto went to open the door, with what she figured was a little too much enthusiasm. Even though he kept up his casual demeanor.

"Hey Ino!" His voice sounded surprised.

Well well, if this isn't a surprise, Anko mused to herself.

"Can I come in?" Ino asked, her voice a little hesitant.

Before Naruto could say anything, Anko decided to make her presence known.

"Who is your friend Naruto?" Anko asked the boy, she took the chance to study the girl. She was a pretty little thing, with platinum blonde hair and aquamarine eyes, who was now gaping at her.

Seeing the smirk playing on her lips Naruto discerned her intentions.

"I think you should be leaving now Anko." Naruto muttered under his breath.

"If its a bad time I can always come back later." Ino said a little flustered.

"Fine. But I will be back for more." Anko couldn't help a parting shot, leaving Ino blushing at the older woman's implication and Naruto cursing under his breath.

Ino wasn't sure what she was feeling right now. When she had gone to Ichiraku's to see Naruto today, she was surprised when she didn't find him there.

He didn't take days off of work or school. But what was even more surprising was to find out that he had volunteered in the Shinji Tournament. Something she found out from the daughter of the owner of the establishment, Ayame was her name if she was correct.

But why would he do that after everything she had told him? Didn't he realize how dangerous it could be? She had been on the warpath to the venue only to realize he had left for the day. That's when she decided to pay him a visit at his home.

And now she wasn't sure it was such a good idea.

It was that woman again. Naruto called her Anko. It wasn't the first time she had seen her either. She frequented Ichiraku's for the same reason Ino did after all. To see Naruto. But while Naruto was a friend and classmate of Ino's, she wasn't sure if Anko's relationship with Naruto was that simple or pure.

The fact that she was a beautiful woman who dressed provocatively did nothing to dispel her notions that maybe she was seducing Naruto. What also didn't help was the way she oozed sexuality in a way that made Ino feel rather inadequate around her.

Not that she would ever admit this, but Ino was a beautiful girl, with no small amount of pride in her beauty. But pride was a fragile thing and all it took to hurt it was the presence of someone who the mind unconsciously considered to be better than yourself.

Then there was the fact that Naruto tried his best to keep her away from Anko. Why would he do that? What did he have to hide unless it wasn't what she thought it was.

And most importantly what could she do about it?

"So what brings you here?" Naruto asked the girl.

Ino stood around awkwardly in his apartment. It was bare bones. Apart from a few clothes in a hamper at the corner of the room and his school bag occupying one of the two chairs were the extent of his worldly possessions. The apartment was neat and tidy, not what you would expect from a teenaged boy living alone.

But then Naruto had never been one to fit the mould.

"I heard you volunteered at the tournament." Ino said cutting to the heart of the matter.

"Yes, I did." Naruto replied. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yeah sure."

Ino followed him to the kitchen and watched him work. His movements were confident and refined. Ino focused to get avoid being distracted. God he was good at that.

"Did you talk to Kiba?" She finally manged.

"I couldn't convince him." Naruto dropped some tea leaves in the boiling water and retrieved a pair of cups from his kitchen cabinet. Actually he hadn't even tried. It wouldn't have helped, but Ino didn't need to know that.

"So, you decided to volunteer?" Ino was finding it hard to keep the note of incredulity out of her voice.

Naruto sighed. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Sometimes he wished he could be confrontational. He wished he could tell her it really was none of her business. But that really wasn't his speed. If he did that, he might do something like fuel her curiosity or her anger and god knew she didn't need any more.

So, best spin a web of half-truths and full lies to keep her satisfied.

And that was something he was good at.

"It was because I couldn't convince him that I decided to volunteer. You know keep an eye on him and all that." He poured out the tea in the cups and offered one to Ino.

Ino took a dainty sip. "This is good." She complimented trying to cover the moment of awkwardness that descended on them after his last statement.

She had been ready for a confrontation and instead she got an explanation. And now she didn't know what to do.

"Anko seems like a nice lady." Ino said before she could stop herself.

Naruto wanted to scoff. But he could sense Ino's unease and he really didn't want her asking anymore questions than the ones that seemed to be brewing in her head.

"Oh Anko? She is a family friend of the Ichiraku's. She is my neighbor and checks on me from time to time."

Okay that's it. She is just a friend of his adoptive family. No bizarre, weird relationship between an older woman and a young boy. Just a concerned friend. Ino felt like banging her head against the wall for jumping to conclusions.

She finished her tea and handed him the cup.

"Thanks for the tea Naruto. I should really get going now, its getting late."

"Yes, of course. Would you like me to walk you home?

"No, I am asking my dad to pick me up." She said

"I will see you tomorrow then?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, you will." Ino said with an extra bounce to her step as she exited his apartment.

Naruto worked on the rest of his chores, including washing the cups that he had just served tea in.

"You can come in you know. We are alone now." Naruto spoke.

"How long have you known?" Came the cool and calculated voice of Sasuke from the window. He then proceeded to enter the apartment. Dressed in all black, he was like a specter, quick, silent and deadly. If Naruto didn't know any better he would have said 3 really had a flair for the dramatic.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it that wasn't the case. 3 took himself way too seriously to be dramatic.

"Since you came around 15 minutes ago." Naruto said nonchalantly.

"Hn." He grunted before pulling himself inside the apartment.

"So what do you have for me?" Naruto queried.

"Not much. We were told that the best players in the tournament will be given the opportunity of a lifetime. Nothing overly suspicious." Sasuke replied.

"This opportunity of a lifetime thing does sound suspicious if you ask me, since you weren't told what this opportunity was."

"What would you want me to do?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing. Finish the tournament. I don't think you will have problems being chosen as one of the best players and we will go from there." Naruto had to admit, he wasn't ready to let this go yet, despite Anko's instructions.

Whatever operation she had planned, would take time, but if he could do something more, he would.

Sasuke nodded once, preparing to exit the apartment the way he came.

"Why did you choose Kiba?" Naruto asked before he could leave.

"He seemed eager and I didn't have a problem. You don't have a problem do you 9?" Sasuke asked.

The two assassins glared at each other, a silent battle of wills being fought between them, neither giving ground.

"Do you need help with the homework? You did miss the last two classes of the day due to the tournament after all." Naruto said nonchalantly.

"I am good. Some of the girls in the class offered to take notes for me." Sasuke replied just as casually.

Naruto nodded, looks like 3 did find a use for his fangirls, despite his cluelessness as to how to deal with them most of the time.

Sasuke made his way to the window and was about to jump out into the night.

"Good luck for tomorrow Sasuke."

"Wish you the same Naruto."

**Okay guys, not much happening in this chapter, but I promise an action-packed finale. Consider this a prelude to the main symphony before leading to the climax.**

**On to other matters. Come on guys my story deserves more than 3 reviews per chapter. Seriously a bit of motivation goes a long way.**

**Anyway, thanks to everyone, who has subscribed, favorited and reviewed my story. And for those who like the horror/supernatural genre with scoops of noir do check out my new story The Diabolist, a modern day Naruto AU**

**Until next time.**


	25. The Cloaked Viper: Pretender

**A/N:- Well, here we go again. As promised I am back. The sort of build-up in the last chapter culminating in this one. Hope I did justice to this.**

**And why can't I get more than 3 reviews per chapter? Anyway enjoy!**

**The Pretender**

Naruto tried his best to focus. In preparation for the tests which were beginning next week, Asuma had sprung a test on them.

But the one problem he had was that he was still in mission mode. He was still trying to figure out what would be going down today. He had never flown quite this blind before.

Talented basketball kids, drugs and a sports tournament. What was the link connecting all of them?

Maybe it was just a regular sports tournament. Maybe he misread the situation with Daichi. But his gut was still telling him something was going to go wrong.

Shaking his head he turned his attention back to his answer sheet. He barely had 15 minutes left and he had only completed three-quarters of the test.

Giving it up as a lost cause, he wrapped up the paper with a few more answers and proceeded to look around the room. Sasuke had finished his paper and was looking his usual cool, stoic self, Kiba on the other hand seemed to be struggling.

Ino and Sakura were bent over their sheets, trying to squeeze in that extra something. That wasn't surprising. Both were straight-A students after all and always gave their all.

His eyes went back to Kiba.

He couldn't deny that he was a little worried.

"Okay guys you can stop writing now." Asuma announced indicating the end of the test and started collecting the sheets.

Well sometimes a man has to do what he has to do. That was all there was to it.

Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to go and keep an eye on things, just to be safe.

That day during their lunch break, Naruto sat in his usual place, watching Sasuke soak in all the attention that comes with becoming a sports star. Kiba looking morose, came and took his seat next to Naruto.

"What's eating you?" Naruto asked him.

"Nothing." Kiba twirled his spaghetti over his fork as he sighed audibly.

"Is it about Sasuke?"

Kiba looked like he would start protesting for a moment, before deflating.

"You know how many people have come up to me to say 'Good game Kiba' or even, 'congrats on your victory'?"

Naruto remained silent, knowing a rhetoric question when he heard one.

"None." Kiba said after a while, answering his own question.

"With the way things are going, you would think he was the only participant." Kiba started. "Its as if I am not even a part of the team. Everyone only has eyes for him."

Naruto stared at Kiba, but refrained from saying anything. Kiba took this as encouragement to continue.

"Its always Sasuke this and Sasuke that. It has barely been a week since he has arrived here, I have been coming here for 7 years and yet more people know him than me."

"Its like I don't even exist." He tore up his packet of milk shake and chugged the contents.

Having calmed down somewhat, Kiba continues. "Its not like I hate the guy or anything. Its just it would have been better to get some recognition for myself too. I'm not asking for much am I?"

"I don't know what to tell you Kiba." He really didn't. He didn't understand where Kiba was coming from either. Having never craved acknowledgement himself, he was a little out of his depth here.

But then his work involved blending in the shadows. So he really wasn't the best person to be having this conversation with.

But he gave it his best shot.

"But yes, I agree you deserve recognition for your hard work and efforts. But I suppose we don't always get what we deserve." Naruto had no idea what he was saying, but he continued anyway. "I guess that's just how life works."

Naruto was sure he had said something wrong seeing the way Kiba was gaping at him. Why did he have to open his mouth again? He could have just let him vent.

"And what have you ever wanted, you felt you deserved and didn't get it." Ino asked as she plopped down next to him. "As a matter of fact have you ever really wanted anything?"

"God damn it Ino. We are having a serious discussion here." Kiba groused at the pretty blonde.

"Yeah, sorry for interrupting your emo trip." Ino rolled her eyes at Kiba.

"Why you blonde bimbo..." Kiba began.

"Okay so what can you tell me about Sasuke?" She interrupted Kiba, before he could really begin his tirade.

"See what I mean?" Kiba said turning to Naruto. "How about he Kiba, good to see you, or in your case hey Kiba how can I make your life a little more miserable. Oh wait..." He held up a hand as if doing a grand reveal. "You're already doing that."

"Anyway I was hoping you would have some dirt on the guy. But since you don't want to talk." Ino trailed off.

"Why would you want to get dirt on the guy?" Kiba asked a bit suspicious.

"Well Sakura seems to have taken an interest in the guy, and I am only doing what a good friend would do." Ino shrugged. "Running background checks on the potential crush."

"I don't know, but I am quite sure that's wrong on quite a few levels." Kiba said. "Does Sakura know about your supposed background checks?"

"Do you have something for me or not?" Ino's face had turned red at his insinuation.

Kiba finally relented. "Don't know what to tell you. He doesn't talk much. And despite his growing club of fan girls he doesn't seem to have any friend. Come to think of it I have never seen his parents either."

"Seriously that's all you have for me?" Ino said. "You spent 2 days in close proximity to the guy and all you've given me are things I had worked out on my own."

"Well excuse me if I am not a busy-body like you who has nothing better to do than to spy on the next source of gossip." Kiba's tone suggested mild irritation, though it had more to do with Sasuke than Ino.

This definitely wasn't going in a good direction. Ino was poking her nose in things she shouldn't. Naruto had to nip this in the bud. Because if he didn't, Ino wouldn't get herself hurt so much as she would get herself killed.

But how to go about it?

Telling her to back off would only fuel her more.

He had to be a bit more subtle about it.

"Why don't you go talk to him? Maybe you will find something yourself." He said.

Reverse psychology. If this didn't work he didn't know what would.

Ino looked at him and Naruto returned her stare with a nonchalant one of his own.

"Yeah why don't you get your own hands dirty?" Kiba exclaimed.

"I tried that, the guy isn't so much elusive as he is a closed vault." Ino said. "Not unlike someone else I know." She shot Naruto another look.

Good news he had gotten the attention off of Sasuke, for now at least. Bad news, she was back to focusing on him.

"Break's almost done. We should get going." Naruto said picking up his food tray and dumping it in a dustbin on his way out of the cafeteria.

"Is it me or did he just blow you off just now?" Kiba said barely managing to suppress the snicker that threatened to escape his lips.

"Shut up." Ino muttered, but her voice lacked the usual venom.

* * *

Sasuke dribbled the ball, never taking his eyes off his opponent. There were just a few seconds on the clock. Their opponents trailed them by 5 points. To win all he had to do was hold on to the ball.

He made Kiba in his peripheral vision, being blocked by the member of the other team. Feinting to his right he suddenly went left, his opponent anticipated his move and proceeded to intercept him, only for him to change directions once again.

Leaving his opponent gaping Sasuke proceeded to take a lay-up and scored a last basket in the dying moments of the game.

The crowd went nuts at such a masterful display of skill and spontaneously broke into applause. Earlier in the day Sasuke had entirely decimated their opponents in the semi-finals, to make their way to the finals. As said earlier Daichi had somehow gotten Hiroto Higarashi to take time off his busy schedule to come and preside over the finals.

A special dais had been set up for him and he had been politely clapping, flanked on either side by his two bodyguards.

Despite himself Naruto found himself looking for ways to get close enough to assassinate him. He was on his 9th when he shook his head to banish those thoughts.

Old habits die hard.

Kiba and Sasuke went up to the dais to collect the winner's trophy along with the cash prize. Kiba for once was looking happy, basking in the shared glory.

Naruto for his part kept his eyes on Daichi, who was now talking to some of the organizers.

When he saw Kiba approaching him. He looked pretty pleased with himself.

"Hey Naruto they are throwing a party to celebrate the success of the tournament. Wanna come?" He asked him.

"Yeah sure, why not?" Naruto shrugged.

"Well, that's okay. I just felt I had to ask." Kiba said, before his brain caught up to what he had just heard. "Wait a minute, did you just say you are going to come?"

"Yeah, you winning the tournament calls for celebration." Naruto smirked at the dumbstruck expression on Kiba's face.

"Okay who are you and what have you done to my friend?" Kiba said looking suspicious.

Naruto rolled his eyes at this.

"Come on we have a party to get to."

The said party was taking place in Daichi's private loft. It was a big place. A double-storeyed white structure with a huge lawn up-front.

The house was a few miles outside the main city, leaning towards the suburbs. Naruto and Kiba had hitched a ride from Daisuke. Sasuke wasn't with them. He hitched a ride with one of the other players.

The ride was a pleasant one. Spending most of it discussing the other teams in the tournament.

"The team from Ohara had been serious threats at one point. I suppose the nerves did them in." Kiba said sounding wise.

"You're being a little too humble Kiba-kun, its just that you guys were too good." Daisuke laughed genially.

"You mean Sasuke was too good." Kiba grumbled.

"No, I meant what I said." Daisuke said seriously. "Its a team sport and a team is only as good as its players, I am sure Naruto-san would agree."

"Absolutely." Naruto said in a tone of assent. Yes, it was true that Kiba was overshadowed by Sasuke, but he was a very good player and had his moments in the tournament. "I am sure they would talk about that feint you pulled off in the heats for years to come."

Feeling a little better about himself Kiba allowed the conversation to drift to other channels.

"Just as well, cause as the champions now, brace yourself for some attention from the opposite gender." Daisuke smirked at Kiba.

"Speaking of which where is Mai-san?" Kiba asked talking about Daisuke's gorgeous girlfriend.

"Oh she said she didn't need a ride. She would meet us at the house." Daisuke turned the car left leading his car into a garage. "Well guys we're here."

"How long have you known each other?" Naruto asked him.

"She is the new transfer student in my school. Apparently her folks move around a lot. We hit it off really well the first time we met and we haven't looked back since." Daisuke explained. "The party was her idea, you know."

"Sweet!" Kiba vocalized his admiration for Daisuke's girlfriend.

Several cars were already parked near the house. It seemed the party had started. As soon as they disembarked they were ambushed by Daisuke's friends.

The crowd was good-natured, if a little rowdy.

The chairs in the dining room had been pushed to the wall, to create enough space for dancing. Teenagers swayed to the beat of the music, with plenty of alcohol to keep everyone happy.

Daisuke was a good host. He made sure everyone was having a good time and the music remained good. Kiba was goggling at the DJ and his turn-tables.

"Is your brother here?" Naruto asked Daisuke over the din of the music.

Daisuke brought his head closer to Naruto's to make out what he was saying, prompting him to repeat his question.

"He is in his office. I think he is entertaining some guests."

Well, coming here wasn't a total waste then. He had his doubts before, but following his gut proved useful. Now if he could only listen in to the conversation between Daichi and his guests.

Meanwhile a welcome distraction was created by the arrival of Daisuke's girlfriend Mai. Dressed in a short sleeveless and strapless silver dress, which accentuated her long legs and curves, she had all eyes on her right till the moment she walked up to him and putting her arms around his neck proceeded to kiss his cheek.

"Hey babe." Daisuke's face broke into a smile at his girlfriend's ministrations and then proceeded to kiss her properly.

Breaking away from the kiss she turned to Naruto, a playful smile playing on her lips.

"Do you mind if I borrow Daisuke for a bit?" Her request led to a round of whistles and cat-calls from the surrounding boys.

"No, not at all." Naruto said being the perfect sport.

With a wink at the guys she grabbed Daisuke by the hand and dragged him away from the party, leading him upstairs, Naruto's eyes following them all the way.

Kiba joined Naruto as soon as Daisuke left.

"Gods she is hot!" He exclaimed. "Wonder what a mortal has to do to get a goddess like that."

"Careful what you wish for my friend, romances with Goddesses tend to be one-sided" Naruto said in a warning tone, when he spotted a blonde haired girl walking towards them.

"Hey guys." The figure spoke.

Kiba who had been running his hand through his hair in anticipation of a chat with a hot girl, dropped his jaw in shock. Ino looked different than she usually did, with her hair left open instead of the ponytail, she usually had, hence the reason for Kiba's surprise.

"Ino!" He exclaimed.

"Why the shocked tone dog boy?" Ino smirked at him, knowing very well the effect she had on him, leaving him spluttering. "Hey Naruto."

"Hey Ino." Naruto returned her greeting. "What brings you here?" He spied Sasuke across the room, nursing a drink, a gaggle of girls surrounding him, a couple of the braver ones triying to engage him in conversation.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Ino remarked. "Last time I checked parties weren't your thing."

"Well I changed my mind, realized letting my hair down once in a while, would do me good."

"No, seriously what are you doing here?" Kiba nearly snarled, finally having recovered from her comment.

"If you must know I was asked out by one of the players." Ino replied frostily.

"You mean to say you're here on a date?"

"Wow Kiba, your deductive skills are getting astounding." Ino said faking amazement.

"Yeah whatever, I am getting myself a drink." Kiba left the two alone, making his way to the bar.

"What are you doing here?" Ino hissed as soon as Kiba was out of earshot.

Naruto knew this was coming.

"I came here to keep an eye on Kiba." He replied. Technically he wasn't lying. Keeping an eye on Kiba was one of the reasons he came here. And now it seemed he would have to keep an eye on Ino too. "I thought you hated everything to do with this thing, so why are you here?"

Ino glared at him, before her gaze thawed. "It wasn't my intention to come here, but then I saw you leave with that guy and I just had to come." Her tone was earnest.

Naruto fought down the urge to rub his forehead. He should be looking for Daichi, not reassuring teenaged girls, with messiah complex.

"Your date is looking for you." He said, trying to distract her, Ino looked around to see her date indeed was, as he approached her holding two drinks.

"There you are!" He said on spotting her. "I have been looking all over for you."

Ino turned around intent on apologizing for intruding only to find he had disappeared.

Finally! Naruto thought. He was beginning to think he could never get away. He made his way to the first floor passing a couple who was making out near the stairs.

From what he could tell, there were 3 rooms upstairs, two of which had to be bedrooms and one Daichi's office.

That was a fairly safe assumption to make.

Casually walking to the first door, which he knew to be Daichi's bedroom, having seen Mai drag him inside this one.

But something felt wrong.

His sharp hearing failed to make out any noises emanating from there. That certainly didn't feel right.

Turning to the door, he turned the handle, not surprised to find it locked. Fishing into his pocket, he took out a paper-clip and some pieces of wire.

It took him six seconds to defeat the lock.

Entering the room, he found Daisuke lying on his back on his bed, half naked. Rushing forward, Naruto checked his pulse, pressing his carotid artery, and was relieved to find it there.

After making sure nothing was blocking his airways, Naruto looked around the room. A bottle of beer lay on the night-stand.

He was definitely drugged.

And there was little doubt as to who could have done it.

But what really chilled his bones was the why.

He rushed towards the office, knowing it was too late, but before he could take more than a step.

The hallway exploded.

Only his honed reflexes and danger senses saved him from what could have been really nasty fall.

As it was, he found himself hanging off the railing, his ears ringing, but he could still make out the screams of the kids running helter-skelter below.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if Ino and Kiba were okay.

With some effort, he dragged himself over the railing.

The corridor was ablaze, an inferno. The explosion had blown door to Daichi's office off its hinges. Naruto's timely dodge had save him from being flattened by it.

In that inferno, a figure stood dressed in black. With its back to him. Standing on the window ledge. He had no doubts as to what had happened to the occupants of the room.

Balancing itself like an Olympic gymnast the figure jumped down. Naruto prepared himself to follow, then his eyes fell on the fire that was slowly eating away at the corridor and soon would engulf Daisuke's room.

His decision had been made for him.

Hardening himself he turned to the unconscious figure of Daichi.

* * *

"Mission accomplished." Came a cold feminine voice from the intercom.

"Confirmed. Proceed to processing." The man said,

"Seems like the girl did well Leader." Said the man sitting across him.

"As was expected." The man 'Leader' replied. "Why are you here?"

There was a pause as the man waited a few seconds to allow the build-up for what he was about to reveal.

"We found Subject One."

**And that's a wrap folks. Tell me how many of you saw that coming! Not many I am sure! So, do leave a line exclaiming your shock and surprise!**

**Until Next time.**

**Peace out!**


	26. The Cloaked Viper:- Ambiguity

**The Cloaked Viper:- Ambiguity**

"I had gone upstairs to use the washroom, when it happened." Naruto said. "The explosion threw me off my feet and I may have lost consciousness for a while."

"Hmm... People mention seeing you drag out a boy from the building." The officer inquired writing away at his pad fixing him with his best you might be in trouble glare.

"Just doing what a responsible citizen would do officer." Naruto said infusing as much sincerity in his voice as he could. "And it wasn't as much dragging as it was helping."

"Responsible?" The man said with a scoff. "A party of minors where alcohol was served, doesn't seem too responsible."

"I don't know what you mean officer? The party was supervised by adults." Naruto said a little coolly.

"Yes, and the said adult is now dead." The Officer quipped.

"Stop bothering the kid Ibiki. I know the boy." Naruto had never been so glad to hear that voice.

"Hmmmm... if you say so." The officer said without taking his eyes off Naruto.

Naruto had to admit the man was sort of intimidating. Tall and well built with a grim face, whose seriousness was only accentuated by two scars running across his face as he stared him down.

Naruto could tell the wanna be's from the real thing. And this man Ibiki was definitely the real thing. He was the kind of man who knew exactly what he was doing.

Overall he didn't look like the kind of man Naruto would like to spend any amount time with.

Especially with the number of secrets he was keeping.

So he was actually glad that he came when he did.

"I will take it from here Ibiki." Anko said finally getting Ibiki to break the staring contest that had engaged Naruto in.

"Well until next time kid." Ibiki said finally relenting.

"I certainly hope not." Naruto couldn't help firing back. Ibiki had already pegged him as a troublemaker, so he would play the part he was given.

And he had had a long night.

Anko waited until Ibiki was out of earshot.

"This is some mess." She said looking around to the scene before her.

It had been two hours since the explosion. The fire department was busy putting out the dregs of the remaining fire which had broken out in the house.

Naruto had been given a blanket along with an oxygen mask. He played along his role of a traumatized victim. He was none the worse for wear, but he did smell like smoke and ash.

"What are you doing here kid?" Anko asked him, keeping her tone even.

"Attending a party." Naruto said sarcastically.

"Don't have time for this kid." Anko's tone brooked no argument. She was pissed and she wanted to make sure he knew it. "I told you to pull out and yet I find you here, so you better have a good explanation or I go get Ibiki and trust me when I say he makes me look like a docile kindergarten teacher."

Naruto knew empty threats when he heard them. Anko's threats were anything but.

"So, you're gonna rat me out, because of something that's not even my fault for doing something you asked me to." Naruto retorted.

"I won't have to." Anko walked a little closer to him. "A couple of hours with him and as tough as you seem to think you are, it won't be a couple of hours before he has you singing like a canary."

Naruto doubted that. But then a victory in a battle of wills wasn't going to get him anywhere. You have to pick your battles.

"What are they saying was the cause of the explosion?" He inquired. Better to know what she had, before deciding what he wanted her to know.

"They are calling it a gas leak." Anko said her eyes implying that she didn't believe a word of it.

Typical. Make it look like an accident. With so many kids fooling around mostly unsupervised. Shit happens. Another lesson for parents to look just that much deeper into their kid's lives, without anyone having so much as an inkling to what really transpired.

Despite how messy it looked, Naruto knew better.

It was clean. calculated and efficient.

Just as he would have done it.

Daisuke's girlfriend, Mai. He had his doubts about her, which had just taken shape only this evening. Even then he had nothing concrete.

It might be the same assassin or maybe a different one. Though his hunch was leaning towards the former.

"I wanted to see who Kazuya was?" Naruto finally said.

"He was here tonight?" Anko raised an eyebrow at this.

"Most probably." Naruto admitted. "Daichi was meeting someone, so it had to be him, considering the level of secrecy surrounding this public event."

"So what happened?"

"I was going to the office on the first floor, when the entire thing exploded." Naruto said omitting some details. "Daisuke was in his room unconscious, I knew I couldn't help the others, so I grabbed him and got out."

"That's all?" Anko said. "You didn't see anyone with him? No mystery assassin?"

"No, he did have a girlfriend though." Naruto made a show of shaking his head in a regretful way. "Didn't get to know her personally however."

"You don't believe this could have been done by the mystery assassin?" Anko queried.

"Can't say with any certainty. It might have been." Naruto said. "You just said it was a gas leak. That may very well be the reason."

"If this was an assassination how would you have done it?"

Not for the first time, since he had known her, this question confirmed what Naruto already knew. Anko had the habit of asking all the right question. Probably what made her such an effective interrogator.

"Something different." He lied smoothly, without missing a beat. Technically he could have created quite a few scenarios with what he had. But the way it was handled, was probably the best.

"I hope for your sake you're not lying to me kid." Anko sighed, realizing that was all she was going to get out of him. "I can't help you if you won't let me."

From the corner of his eye he spied the kids standing around, being questioned by the officers on the scene. He spotted Ino talking to Ibiki, her father by her side, looking none to pleased with his daughter.

Kiba had already left after having been picked up by his mother. Teuchi was standing some distance away, looking a little out of place, as he kept shooting occasional glances in his direction.

"So what now?" He asked her.

"You can go home." She replied.

Naruto nodded before removing the blanket he had been given, walking up to Teuchi.

"Naruto." A familiar feminine voice beckoned him.

He turned around in the direction of the voice to see Ino rushing up to meet him, panting slightly she stopped a couple of feet in front of him.

"Hey Ino, what's up?"

"Just wanted to ask you if you were okay." She said catching her breath.

"Yeah I am fine." Naruto assured her.

They stood around awkwardly for a few seconds, it looked like she had something more to say, but wasn't sure how to.

Teuchi was looking at him a little confused about the hold-up, Inoichi too now seemed to be glaring at them. Though it seemed to be directed more towards his daughter than him.

"Look I really need to go. I will talk to you later." Naruto said sparing her the trouble.

"Yeah sure." Ino looked a little relieved at this.

Waving her goodbye Naruto walked up to Teuchi.

It had been a long day. But he doubted the night had ended.

* * *

Naruto unlocked the door to his apartment, having just endured a 15 minute lecture about responsibility from Teuchi. Though he failed to see how being responsible could help in this situation.

But then he had just survived a fire which had claimed two people. So he cut him some slack and took his dressing down quietly.

"You have some explaining to do." The first words he heard on entering his apartment.

To be frank he knew he had walked into this one. Naruto knew he had to answer some questions to his partner from the old days, who he had dragged into this mess.

"I know." Naruto sighed turning to Sasuke who was sitting in one the chairs, obviously waiting for him.

"Are you waiting for a hooter?" Sasuke said in his usual deadpan voice.

Naruto had to admit, he was impressed. For an emotionless assassin, 3 sure had a flair for sarcasm.

"It was executed by one of our 'replacements'." Naruto said. "Most probably another infiltration specialist, integrating herself close to the mark by befriending the brother."

"You didn't catch on to this?"

"Didn't know her well enough to arrive to any conclusions." Naruto admitted. "She had me fooled."

"This oversight on your part could get us both killed." Sasuke commented drily, but Naruto could detect the edge in his voice.

"I made a mistake."

"Does she know about you? About us?" Sasuke decided to assess what the damage could be.

"Highly unlikely." Naruto said after thinking it over. "I wasn't her target, just like she wasn't ours. It was coincidince we ran into each other."

"You probably realize you just risked our lives for nothing."

"On the contrary we now have a visual on one of them. So, no it wasn't a total waste." Naruto tried to be optimistic.

"You know that isn't going to help us. The risks we took or rather you took for us weren't great enough for these gains we got." Sasuke's tone had just a hint of reproach.

"Look, what's done is done. It might have been a mistake, but there is nothing else we can do about it now." Naruto was beginning to lose his patience now. Already having been chewed out by Ibiki, Anko and Teuchi, he just wasn't in the mood anymore. "All we can do right now is just take what we have gotten from this and maybe use it to our advantage."

Sasuke silently contemplated Naruto for a while.

"What happened to you 9?" He said. "You never made mistakes like this before."

Naruto sighed. "It was an easier time back then 3. All we had to do was follow orders."

"And now?"

"We take responsibility for the choices we make." Naruto said gravely.

They remained in silence.

"Do you ever feel regret for killing all those people 3?" Naruto couldn't help himself.

"We were following orders. There is nothing to regret." Sasuke replied coolly.

"But most of the time we didn't even know why we killed them." Naruto didn't know why he was touching upon this subject with 3. He wouldn't understand. He didn't feel regret. He didn't know what regret was.

Sasuke took that as his cue to leave. Walking up to the window he fired one last comment before he disappeared into the night.

"We are assassins 9." He said without turning around. "We belong in the shadows. No matter how good you are at pretending to be one of them, you will never be. Maybe its time you realized that."

* * *

It had been 3 days since the incident. School had just concluded for the day. Their mid-session exams had commenced.

Naruto was feeling pretty good about his maths exam. He said goodbyes to his school friends, Kiba and Ino included. Both of whom had recovered from their ordeal, fairly well.

Apart from being grounded for a couple of weeks, they wouldn't be in too much trouble.

Daisuke had taken the death of his brother hard. So much so that he didn't even question the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend. He had left for Okinawa the day before, where he had a few relatives, who would be taking him in till he finished school.

He had visited Naruto before leaving, thanking him for pulling him out of the burning house.

He himself hadn't been doing too bad. Though he did get another lecture from Ayame after she had glomped him the next day she saw him.

The concerned older sister routine, he supposed.

3's words from the other night still rang in his head. Is that what he was doing? Trying to be normal. Was that such a wrong thing?

He spotted Anko, standing a few yards from the school gate, leaning on her car, smiling when she saw him coming.

"Hey gaki." She greeted him.

"Anko-san." He acknowledged.

"Get in I will give you a ride." She offered.

Nodding Naruto got inside the car, placing his school bag on the back seat.

"So, how did you do?" She tried to make small talk.

"I did well." Came the reply. "So, what is it?" He decided to not beat around the bush.

Anko sighed. "I wanted to apologize for giving you hard time the other day. You had been a great help and we managed to tie all the loose ends."

"That's great." Naruto said with a marked lack of enthusiasm.

"One of the bodies found at the house belonged to one Kazuya Minamoto." She said before pausing for dramatic effect. "He was the principal of at your friend Takeshi's last school. We believe he was running a drug-operation using his position. Still not clear about all the details, but we will get there."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Naruto interrupted her.

"To show you that I trust you." Anko said without missing a beat. "No matter who you were at one time, I do trust you." Her grip over her steering tightened as she spoke the next words. "I just wish you would trust me too."

Crap, she had him cornered.

"We're here." She said pausing in front of his apartment. "I won't force you to do anything Naruto, but just know, that I will listen if you have anything to share. And I mean anything."

Naruto grabbed his bag, feeling a little awkward but not unpleasant at her words.

"Thanks." He said before exiting the vehicle.

* * *

Location:- **Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa hospital**

Time:- 5:15 PM.

Dr. Nakamura entered the reception area, acknowledging the receptionist as she greeted him, before signing himself in.

As one of the leading psychiatrists in the country, he had a thriving practice and a loving family consisting of a wife and two kids aged 14 and 10. At 45, life was good.

After finishing his rounds, he picked up a patient-chart. Ones he was supposed to be counselling.

This particular case had baffled him for months now.

The photograph attached to the file showed a red-haired boy of about 15 with dark circles under his green eyes. The boy had no parents or peers they knew of. The only thing they knew about him was his name. Even that they made up.

The boy was a deranged psychopath and wasn't above spouting death threats to anyone who tried to talk to him. The doctor included.

He supposed the boy had a history of abuse, though the lack of information about his past, prevented them from knowing who could have been responsible.

The boy himself refused to talk about his life. Something which confirmed the traumatic nature of his ordeals. More often than not the boy had to be restricted to solitary for the safety of others.

But he hadn't stopped trying to get through to the boy.

He was a doctor after all. He couldn't just give up, no matter how much the boy scared him.

Taking a deep breath he entered the room where the patient was being kept.

The room was pleasantly lighted, with sunlight entering from the lone window. The boy strapped in a straitjacket was sitting with his legs folded below him, studying the doctor with mild curiosity.

"Hello Gaara. How are you feeling today?" He began genially.

"I am fine doctor." The boy replied in his soft but cool voice. "Could really use some fresh air though."

"I am sure, we can work something out later." He assured his patient.

"But I was thinking more on the lines of...now." The boy's grin turned maniacal as he slipped off his jacket, lunging towards the man.

The scream that was building up in his throat never got the chance to be released.

**Well that concludes this arc. Thanks to Namikaze541, iamnarutofan2200 and Unknown Shinobi for their reviews.**

**Until next time.**


	27. The Broken Weapon Arc: Prelude

**A/N:- Boy was this chapter hard to write. No matter what I did, I kept feeling I wasn't doing it right. But this is the end product of it. Hope I have done justice to it.**

**Anyway enjoy.**

**The Failed Subject Arc:- Prelude**

_"Subjects please approach the yellow line." The cool female voice from the intercom instructed. He stepped forward along with two others, approximately his age._

_One was a red-headed boy and the other was a girl with brown hair. They stood in a single file staring ahead waiting for further instructions._

_A man in military fatigues entered the room, a few minutes later followed by a man dressed in a white lab coat holding a clipboard._

_"At ease." The man in the fatigues ordered._

_They all relaxed._

_"State your identity and specialty." The man ordered._

_"Subject One." The red headed boy said in a cool emotionless tone. "Specialty close range combat and demolition."_

_"Subject Nine." He went next. "Specialty close range combat, sabotage and assassination."_

_"Subject Thirteen." The girl took her turn. "Specialty Long range support and extraction." _

_The man who had taken to pacing in front of them as he heard each one of them, before finally stopping as the girl finished. He walked up to them till he was but a few inches from him._

_He was a big man, without an ounce of fat on his body. He barely came upto his chest. Despite the man's intimidating presence none of them showed discomfort of any sort._

_"You have been trained well." The man finally said. "Too well infact."_

_He turned around so that his back was now facing them._

_"You need to be broken and remolded for purposes different than the ones you have been used for til now." The man fixed them with his penetrating gaze. "You will be trained to be infiltrators now, something which you can't be the way you are now. Any questions?"_

_"No, sir!" All three of them chorused._

_"Being an infiltrator requires a completely different set of skills." The man continued. "You need to be able to blend in like the normal people, normal children, or the brainwashed followers of a warlord." He paused here for a while. "The way you are right now, the only place you will blend in is an appliance market as one of the appliances." Meeting the eyes of all three, he concluded. "But we will fix that."_

_His pattern of speech confused him. The instructors in the facility were precise and logical, unlike this man, who put emphasis on the... other details._

_"Doctor?" The military man conceded the floor to the man in the lab coat._

_The man who had so far remained in the background stepped forward acknowledging the military man, before addressing the them._

_"Subjects. Welcome to Emotion Simulation Program aka ESP."_

* * *

Naruto patiently waited while Asuma handed out the results of their term-papers. The smiles and looks of jubilation were telling of how his classmates had done.

"Well done Naruto." Asuma congratulated him softly, handing him his paper. An A minus. Naruto allowed himself a small smile after seeing the grade.

"So, how did you do?" Came a voice from his right.

"Not bad." He turned to Ino and displayed his grade.

"I got the same grade." Ino said flaunting her sheet

"A C?" Came a thoroughly shocked voice from a seat behind Ino. "A freaking C? What did I do to deserve this?" Kiba exclaimed, leading Ino to roll her eyes and Naruto to give him a pointed stare.

"I am cool with it." Kiba shrugged casually, after seeing he won't be getting any sympathy from his friends before groaning and slamming his head on the desk. "My mom is gonna kill me."

Finally something going right, Ino thought to herself, especially with the last few months. Relations between her and her parents were more strained than ever. Just when they were recovering from the whole Takeshi ordeal , she was caught in the fiasco where she was found in a party where two men were found dead, had set them back right where they were a few months ago.

The lack of trust her parents had in her was a little appalling to her. It wasn't her fault. The only thing she was guilty of was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Though if she was being honest with herself, that wasn't strictly true. She had gone to that party to keep an eye on Naruto and yes, even Kiba. As much as it rankled her, the boy was a friend. She expected something to happen and it did.

The authorities might rule it out as a gas leak, but she wasn't buying it. Too many coincidences. But her friends were safe and at the end of the day that was all that mattered to her.

And hopefully her grades would convince her parents that at least that her studies hadn't suffered, and might go some way in repairing the rift between them.

Speaking of parents she stared at the boy who didn't have any. She wondered if that was why he worked so hard. Trying too hard to be responsible. Not having a parental figure probably forced him to grow up a lot sooner than he should have to.

What would he have been like if he had parents? A little more social and a little less awkward? At the moment he was patiently bearing Kiba's antics with something of a smirk on his face as he went on about what his mother was gonna do to him once she finds out his grades.

"You know you could just tell her that the tournament required all your attention and focus and you will do better next time." Naruto said, trying to convince him.

"Have you seen my mother?" Kiba looked at his friend exasperated. "The only reason she allowed me to participate was because I promised I wouldn't let it affect my grades."

"Well looks like your mom pulled one over you mate." Naruto put his sheet inside his bag.

"What do you mean?" Kiba said nonplussed.

"Don't you get it?" Naruto looked at Kiba as if he was missing something really obvious.

"Get what?"

"He means your mom didn't expect you to do well you idiot?" Ino said catching on to what Naruto was saying.

"That's ridiculous. Why wouldn't she?" Kiba scoffed. "And who is an idiot?"

"She saw you really wanted to do this, and the fight wasn't worth it, so she placed the condition of you participating as long as you do well in the exams knowing your performance will be affected." Naruto explained.

"And what does she get out of this?" Kiba asked bewildered.

"In the short term she gets to whale on you about how she is right." Naruto said. "Long term gains she gets your unquestioning compliance the next time you're tempted to pull something like this off."

"And what if I had actually done well?"

The resultant silence was louder than anything Naruto could ever have said.

"I hate you."

* * *

Ino was now wiping off her tears of laughter as they all sat around at their lunch while Kiba grumbled while devouring his sandwich.

"I still don't see what's so funny." He said irritably.

"The fact that you got conned by your own mom." Ino said finally managing to control her giggles. "That is pretty funny."

"Ha! But I didn't get conned." Kiba exclaimed. "I know exactly what she was up to. So now..."

"What are you going to do about it?" Naruto interjected as he shoveled his own food.

"I am gonna." Kiba began confidently. "I am gonna." He repeated now sounding a little more uncertain. "I am gonna." Now he looked positively desperate, before finally his expression settled on one of resignation. "Do nothing."

"Thought so." Naruto said clapping him on the back in sympathy.

Seeing Kiba's expression, Ino broke into a fresh set of giggles, causing him to give her a dirty look.

"I am leaving, beauty queen just killed my appetite." Kiba left the table, carrying his tray and dumping the uneaten food in the dumpster.

"That was mean you know." Naruto admonished her once Kiba was out of hearing distance.

"I know." Ino looked a little apologetic, before breaking into another fit. "But I can't help it." She said between gasps.

Naruto cracked a smile seeing her laugh so much and so hard.

"You smiled." She said astonished.

"What?" Naruto asked a little confused.

"I said you smiled." She repeated herself.

"Yeah so?" Naruto didn't know where she was going with this.

"Its just I have hardly ever seen you smile." She said a little awkwardly.

"Okay." Naruto had no idea what else to say.

"So you know Kiba's mother?" She asked him before the atmosphere became even more awkward.

"Yeah I do." Naruto grabbed onto the new topic for conversation. "Nice lady."

"Tell that to Kiba." Ino suppressed her laughter which was bubbling beneath the surface.

"Yeah I suppose as a parent she can't go easy on him." Naruto shrugged.

Which brought Ino to a question she had been meaning to ask him, but hadn't gone the chance so far, and wasn't sure how to breach the subject.

"Did you know yours?"

"No. I didn't." Came the reply.

"I am sorry if I am making you uncomfortable." Ino said nervously.

"I don't mind."

Wait he didn't mind, so probably she could dig a little deeper.

"So who gave you your name?" She queried.

"My guardian." Naruto said. "Iruka Umino."

"Where is he now?" Ino fished, when Naruto didn't elaborate.

"He died in a car accident almost a year ago."

That took the conversation to a whole new level of awkwardness.

"I am really sorry." Ino said the only thing she could.

"Don't worry about it." Naruto wave an arm, to indicate he was okay with it. Ino really didn't know what to do. Every conversation involving his personal life had a way of turning awkward.

"So did you have any friends?" She pried a little deeper.

"A few." He said after a few seconds of careful consideration.

"Why are you always so cryptic?" Ino said getting a little annoyed.

"I really don't know what you're talking about." Naruto said completely nonplussed.

"Never mind." Ino finally conceded figuring he wouldn't tell her much anyway and left the table.

As Naruto watched Ino walk away, he felt Sasuke's stares on him from the other end of the cafeteria, where he was surrounded by his usual gaggle of fangirls.. Meeting his eyes, they had a moment of silent conversation. It wasn't for long but he couldn't have received the message louder if Sasuke had announced it with a mic and a loudspeaker standing over one of the tables while doing it..

_Keep your distance from them._

* * *

Ichiraku Ayame was a regular girl with regular dreams. She was good as a kid. Didn't get in trouble, was a good student with college aspirations, loved her father and dated the good boys. She had her complaints but overall she felt life had been good to her.

Come spring she would be leaving for college. No, life definitely wasn't bad. But if there was one thing she really regretted, it was the loss of her mother. Ayame had been five at that time. She had been coming home after shopping for groceries when a drunk driver ran her over.

She had been rushed to the hospital and after fighting for 3 days Masaki Ichiraku had succumbed to her injuries.

She had been pregnant for two months.

Ever since Ayame wondered what it would be like to have a younger sibling and what their lives would have been if her mother had lived. Then a few months ago Naruto came into their lives.

When she saw the slightly unassuming blonde boy, it felt like fate's way of making up for the tragedies they had been dealt. He looked so... _vulnerable_.

Boy was that notion dispelled soon. He may be just a kid, but boy was he independent and distant, and responsible to a fault. Let's just say he didn't exactly fit her image of a younger sibling, so she had been a little disappointed when she realized that he was beginning to feel more like a tenant than family.

But that all changed when over time she began realizing something. He was protective of her, no matter how subtle he tried to be about it. It was there.

Being an attractive waitress, she had her share of admirers among her customers. But over the last few months she began to realize that she was only catering to the more docile customers, Naruto having taken cared of the rowdy ones himself.

Something she imagined only a brother would do.

And she realized that even though he wasn't what she expected him to be, she really didn't mind who he was. In his own way he cared for them. Both her and her father.

And though he never spoke about it, she was sure he cared about Iruka too.

As she watched him work fast to serve the customers she felt a smile break over her face. Breaking away her thoughts from the young blonde she decided to focus on her work, when one of the customers asked her to increase the volume of the television they had installed in the restaurant

The TV was fixed on a news channel, which was reporting some sort of a breakout from a mental hospital. The photograph of the escaped patient was flashed across the seemed like a young boy no older than her adoptive brother, with red hair and cold sleep deprived eyes not unlike those of Naruto.

"... Reports have been coming in about this breakout from The Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital." The female reporter said. "The escapee killed three people including one of the Residents before escaping. Current whereabouts of the patient are unknown."

After her initial shock of learning of the three deaths that boy caused, Ayame found the rest of the news irrelevant considering, they hadn't even caught the kid.

That's when she realized that Naruto was staring rather intently at the TV screen, lost in thought, totally oblivious to the plates in his hands.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Ayame asked the boy.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Naruto snapped his head to Ayame as if just realizing she was there.

"Yeah I am fine." He said, giving her a smile and returning to work.

For the rest of his shift Ayame kept a close eye on Naruto, as he worked around. He looked his normal self, and seemed to have gotten over whatever it was that was bothering him.

* * *

Later that day after his shift Naruto was still cursing himself for his slip at the restaurant. It was things like that which got people killed in the field.

For the rest of the shift he knew Ayame keeping her eyes on him. The girl was much more inquisitive than her father. He couldn't wait to get out of there while he was there. But he knew leaving would only raise more suspicions. So he finished his shift, like always and even stayed an extra few minutes, to help Ayame out with some of the chores to assuage her doubts.

So, it seemed there were other subjects who were still out there. Who had survived.

Subject one. In a mental asylum.

He remembered him being one of his fellow candidates at the Emotion Simulation Program.

He believed him to have died long back.

This day he went a different way than the one he usually took. One that led away from his home. Twenty minutes later he was sitting inside an apartment complex, not different from his own, waiting for the tenant.

He didn't have to wait long as the door unlocked and in walked Sasuke, who casually walked in and made his way to the refrigerator.

"Its not there." Naruto proclaimed, placing the Beretta he had found there on the table in front of him.

"How did you find me?" Sasuke closed the refrigerator door and faced him. "The address I gave to the school was fake, and I know you have never followed me here."

"I have my ways." Naruto said, it was good to have the shoe in the other foot for a change and though he didn't show it, Naruto knew he had managed to get under his skin. "But that's not why I am here."

Naruto folded his fingers in front of him and stared right at him.

"We may have a problem."

**And that's done. Finally. It wasn't easy, but I did it. Hope you enjoyed it. Do drop a line, if you have a query, suggestion or criticism.**

**Until next time.**

**Peace Out.**


	28. The Broken Weapon Arc:-The Better of Two

**Naruto seems to be running out of bad guys in the series, isn't he? I mean the way things are going I am pretty sure Obito is going to have a change of heart. Sasuke already has. Hell even the resurrected Orochimaru is going to fighting for good. By the time this ends the only bad guy left would be Madara.**

**But then Kishimoto had lost the thread of his story a couple of hundred chapters back, so at this point nothing really surprises me.**

**Anyway. Rant done, on with the tale.**

**The Broken Weapon:- The Better of Two**

In an earlier life 3 had been a stone-cold assassin. As a matter of fact he still was. He could take out a target from over a mile. Most of the times he didn't even need a scope on his rifle.

He was a marksman and seldom did he require more than one bullet to achieve his objective. Being a long-range support specialist, it was up to him to scout the area around the target first, before the others entered the fray.

In many ways he was the tip of the spear in the war they waged. Now if you asked him about the war, he couldn't say. He was a soldier and he wasn't meant to ask questions or doubt his orders.

Cold, silent, lethal. His target never saw him coming. In many ways he was deadlier than 9. When he had tracked him to Akiruno, with the purpose of getting him to help, he had expected some answers.

But if anything 9 was even more in the dark than he was.

Not only that, 9 had changed. He had formed some sort of attachment to the people around him.

The 9 he knew was a ruthless, cold and efficient assassin. He was a ghost to his targets good at making deaths look like accidents.

The way 9 was now he really doubted he would be any good to him.

But he was willing to do what needed to be done. Even if it meant cooperating with his ex-partner who had seemingly lost his edge. He had taken to using some intimidation tactics to measure the depth of 9's fall into…..'_normalcy.'_

His relationship with 9 could be best described as a paradox. In their missions they had worked well as a team and had each other's back.

But at the same time they also knew, that at any moment one of them would be required to kill the other.

In the old days it would have been to either ensure the success of the mission or to avoid being captured.

Things hadn't changed with time. They were still just as likely to kill each other. Except this time they would be doing it to ensure their own survival.

So he had proceeded to be clear about his intentions regarding some of 9's acquaintances, if they got too close to the truth. He had been satisfied to see that 9 hadn't raised any objections to that. He had given him enough reasons to spare the police woman's life and he kept his distance from the others.

But along with this, he had also seen him sparing the life of the gangster who had seen his face and learnt what he could do. He did try to explain it away, but his doubts that something had changed 9, remained.

Then there was the whole fiasco with the tournament, which he had managed to drag him in despite his better judgement. The whole thing could have so easily led to their exposure, given how things eventually went down.

And then there was that conversation from the other night, which finally confirmed it. 9 started talking about guilt and he that's when he knew that 9 had gone to the deep end. He was beginning to question the very thing he was. Something, which had definitely interfered with his effectiveness.

Or so he thought.

The fact that he was standing in his residence with him caught off-guard just proved how much he had underestimated him. He had also somehow managed to by-pass all his security measures, which would have alerted him to an intruder.

He had attained his objective when he had broken into 9's apartment the first time. It was meant to send a message. The message was he knew where 9 was, and he could get to him.

But then he had foolishly assumed that 9 didn't know where he was and now he was the one being sent the message. I can get to you just as easily.

To be fair, he had covered his tracks well, when he came here. He had registered to the school under an assumed name and fake guardians who didn't exist.

The school authorities had only been too eager to accept him as a student, considering his past 'records', which were exceptional.

He had given a fake address and made sure he was never followed or use the same route twice consecutively. Something which had the added advantage of dodging those girls who insisted on following him home. (Though that was becoming more trouble than it was worth.)

And yet 9 had found him. How long he had known about this only he knew. He let him assume that he had the upper hand.

And the worst part, he had actually fallen for it too. He had been so sure of his own superiority that he had forgotten what 9 had been capable of.

And that's when he realized, how competent an infiltrator 9 really was. He actually was so good, that even he, who had actually worked with 9 was fooled, by this façade of a normal, hardworking student.

But what was even more disturbing was the fact, that something had come up which had actually forced 9 to give up this advantage he had over him.

"What's wrong?" He asked him.

"I think I may have found One."

A tense silence followed this declaration. That may be the breakthrough they were hoping for. It was certainly an intriguing development. The only question that remained was if it was something they could use to their benefit.

"Are you sure about this?" He had never met One himself. So 9 would have to take the lead on this.

"Yes, I am." Naruto replied. "Just saw a news report about a teenaged patient who escaped from a mental asylum, with his snapshot and everything."

That was definitely not good. Their first lead in months and it was already compromised.

"So, how do you want to play this?"

"Depends." Came the reply. "How do you feel about a field trip?"

* * *

The next day Naruto found himself and Sasuke in a train bound to Tokyo. The journey had been silent for the most part.

Naruto was grateful for it. A part of him couldn't help but wonder if this was a trap. They certainly had the resources to pull this off and there couldn't be a better way to flush them out.

But at the same time, it was the best lead they had. Though he wasn't sure what he would do even if they did get to One.

He had killed 3 people after all to escape a mental asylum. So assuming he would be welcoming them with open arms was out of the question. And even if they caught up to him what were the odds that he wasn't just as clueless as they were.

But that was a risk worth taking.

And what other choice did they have? The fact that 3 wasn't questioning his judgement on this one made him feel slightly better about this course of action.

Both of them had ditched school to pursue this lead, which might lead to some questions. But he wasn't too worried about that.

He was sure, he could get Ayame to explain his absence and if it really came down to it, even get her to forge Teuchi's signature.

Something he could do just as well, but at least this way he would have the approval of one of his guardians.

The hospital was a three storey structure. It was fairly early in the morning, so the yard was should have been empty, except it wasn't.

There were still reporters in the area, preparing their setup, most probably for a press conference.

Sasuke began walking towards the reception area, taking care to avoid the cameras, before Naruto grabbed his arm and led him away to a different part of the building.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke deadpanned.

"No, what are you doing?" Naruto retaliated.

"I was going to talk to the receptionist."

"And say what….exactly?"

Sasuke remained silent for a while and Naruto sighed.

"We are a couple of teenagers, if we went around asking questions we have no business asking, we would probably be kicked out." He explained to him.

"So, what do you suppose we should do?"

"Look for the laundry area." On seeing the look he got from Sasuke, which seemed to demand some sort of explanation, he added. "Trust me."

Sasuke nodded, indicating he was ready to go along with him for now.

"Naruto !" A familiar voice called out to him. "Is that you?"

Naruto swallowed a curse as he turned to the owner of the voice. A tall blonde girl dressed in a white blouse and jeans with her hair tied in pigtails, disembarked from a black sedan, he had scouted when he had entered the premises.

The glass of the car was tainted. No wonder he didn't see her.

"Hey Temari." He plastered a smile on his face. "How have you been?"

"I have been good." She seemed happy that he had remembered her. "What about you and who is your friend?"

"This is Sasuke. He is the new transfer to our school." Naruto said. "So what are you doing here?"

"I volunteer here. You know work with some of the patients who are our age." She shrugged. "It looks good on the college application. What about you?"

This couldn't have worked better if Naruto had planned it.

"Me and Sasuke here are hoping to do the same." He said feigning a pleasantly surprised look on his face.

"Hey Temari who you talking…." A male voice interrupted their conversation. "It's you."

"Hello Kankuro." Naruto greeted the brother.

Kankuro and Naruto didn't have the best of starts with regards to knowing each other. But that was mainly because of Kiba.

And Naruto being the friend of Kiba was included in the hostilities.

"What you doing here?" Kankuro said more than a little rudely earning himself a slap on the arm from Temari.

"Be nice." Temari scolded her brother. "I brought your stuff so you better get to it."

With one final glare at Naruto, Kankuro took the keys from his sister and opened the boot of her car, taking a big box out of it, retreating down the same path he came.

"Sorry about my brother. He is a jerk as you know." Temari said apologetically. "So why don't you join me and I will hand you the paperwork you need to fill out."

"That would be great, thanks."

"You know, I expected you to be in school today." Temari said, as if she just realized something.

"We did, but we decided to take the day off for this." Naruto explained.

"So, you won't be joining immediately?" Temari questioned.

"I am afraid not." Naruto said a little regrettably. "This is something we are hoping to do during our spring break."

"Well then I better sign you up as visitors." Temari said. "That way you can join in the activities, see what we do and get your feet wet, figuratively speaking of course."

"Of course."

"Your friend doesn't talk a lot does he?"

"He is a little shy. One of the reasons I got him here is so I could pull him out of his shell of silence." Naruto offered as a way of explanation ignoring the slight glare Sasuke was sending him.

But seeing Temari, he could see that she was going to try and engage him, which he didn't think was such a good idea. The only reason Sasuke did as well as he did in school was because of his good looks. Which in turn had the added advantage of making him look cooler even when he was ignoring his fangirls or answering them with his monosyllabic grunts.

He doubted that would fly with Temari. Time to take the attention away from him.

"I can understand you being here. But why Kankuro?"

"Well he has a talent of sorts." Temari said. "I got him here as a favor, to entertain some of the younger patents."

"And he agreed?"

Temari laughed at the note of disbelief in his voice.

"Well despite how abrasive my brother may seem, he actually does have a kind side." She said. "We are here." She unlocked a door, taking them through the reception area. After a few words with the receptionist, she got several sheaves of paper and handed them to the boys.

"I couldn't help, but notice the reporters who seemed to have camped outside." Naruto prodded. "What's that all about?"

Temari sighed audibly, a hint of sadness entering her eyes. "They are probably here about Gaara."

"Who's Gaara?"

"He used to be one of the patients here. He escaped a couple of days back, killing three people on his way out." Temari said.

"Seriously?" Naruto feigned just the right amount of horror and surprise.

Temari nodded once, having suddenly gone quiet.

"Did you know him personally?"

"I worked with him, so yes, I knew Gaara."

"He was psychotic, manic depressive and paranoid." Temari gave another sigh. "He was quiet most of the time and then he would have one of his episodes. He was getting better. I was sure the frequency of his episodes was decreasing. I thought we were helping him."

"What kind of episodes are we talking about?"

Temari fixed her gaze at the boy in front of her. She wasn't sure why she was sharing this with him. She hadn't told anyone about Gaara neither her parents nor her brother. But for some reason, she was talking about him with Naruto.

"He would get into one of his rages. During these times he would be violent and a threat to himself and others. When he would calm down he would simply sit in the corner of his room, knees folded and repeating himself over and over." Temari put on a gray apron over her clothes as she kept speaking.

"What did he say?"

"Well, most of it was gibberish, but the words which came up the most were….. The hidden leaf."

Naruto shared a glance with Sasuke and at the time, he knew both of them were thinking the same thing.

They needed to find Gaara.

**Well, that wraps up this edition of Project Konoha. Thanks to all the reviewers and subscribers of this story. **

**Until next time.**

**Peace Out.**


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